Air fryers sizzling their way onto South African kitchen countertops

The promise of speed and convenience has seen air-fryer ownership in middle-class South African homes soar from 26% in 2022 to 41% last year.

This is according to the latest report by BrandMapp, an independent annual survey which canvasses more than 33,000 South African adults living in households with a R10,000 or more monthly income.

BrandMapp has been tracking air-fryer ownership for the past two years, and its latest report shows how quickly the appliance is taking over South Africa’s kitchen countertops.

BrandMapp’s Brandon de Kock said: “What we’ve seen is a more than 50% increase in air-fryer footprint over just 12 months.

“To put that in perspective, air-fryer ownership is now on par with vacuum cleaners. It’s quite possible that there’s going to be a whole generation that grows up using it as their primary cooking appliance, just like what happened with microwave ovens back in the 80s.

“It shows almost 90% of the middle class have [microwaves], and we have seen establishment data showing almost 60% of all South African households cook in microwaves.

“So while some people have been quick to dismiss the air fryer as a fad, the ‘snackwich of the 21st century’, it’s hardly fanciful to imagine that it could be on a completely different trajectory. In fact, we could be witnessing a generational behavioural shift here.”

According to the study, given price points and limited counter space, it’s not surprising the top-end of South African households dominate with 72% owning air fryers.

“That’s a massive uptake in a short space of time. It’s also important to note more than half of households from R40k upwards own air fryers, and even in lower mid-income households of R10k to R15k, 23% have air fryers.

“This speaks to the constantly aspirational South African consumer society responding to a product which fits their lifestyles and is clearly just at the right price level,” said De Kock.

In the UK air-fryer ownership stands at 30% and in the US, recent estimates exceed 50%.

“However you look at it, the global air-fryer marketplace remains highly lucrative, and the same is clearly true for the local market.

“As recently as November last year, one of our largest grocery retailers made headlines with reports that air fryers remained the hottest item on their Black Friday menu with a massive fivefold increase in sales compared with the previous year.”

Herman Lensing, editor of Air-Fryer magazine, said in his editor’s letter “the need for more time” is what excites people to the extent it has become a multimillion-rand industry worldwide.

“That’s why I reckon I finally understand the power of the air fryer. Not only does it allow us to prepare scrumptious food in a flash, but we can also spend the valuable time that we save on things that really matter,” said Lensing.

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