How Coricraft protected 100s of jobs and created more through localisation drive

The Money Show's Stephen Grootes talks localisation with the CEO of the Localisation Support Fund (LSF), Irshaad Kathrada.

Furniture manufacturer and retailer Coricraft is witnessing the fruits of its localisation programme.

The company says it replaced over R79.5-million's worth of imports with locally manufactured products between the second quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2025.

This created another 23 jobs and shifted the production of 5,000 units to its Epping factory in Cape Town.

The numbers highlight how the deliberate application of lean manufacturing principles has delivered measurable results in competitiveness, job retention, and supply chain development, says the Localisation Support Fund (LSF).

"This shift has unlocked an annualised R80 million in domestic manufacturing value (as of Q2 2024), safeguarded nearly 500 jobs, and strengthened demand for raw materials like timber, board, foam, and leather."

Localisation Support Fund

"By localising both finished products and upstream inputs, the initiative has generated multiplier effects across the value chain, further embedding jobs in South Africa’s economy."

Localisation Support Fund

The LSF's Irshaad Kathrada recaps how Coricraft was bought a couple of years ago by the Foschini Group, who had a strategy of trying to localise a lot more of their manufacturing.

"And it's a strategy that's not just built out of goodwill to South Africa but it makes real, good commercial sense because they say... by having their manufacturing closer to the consumer they can be much more agile to customer needs.

Irshaad Kathrada, CEO - Localisation Support Fund

"This has played out quite well for them in the clothing and textile space, and so buying into a furniture manufacturer like Coricraft they wanted to see whether the same strategy could play out."

Irshaad Kathrada, CEO - Localisation Support Fund

It's about a year ago that the LSF became involved, when Foschini approached the Fund to help them sharpen this localisation drive.

Click here to see a video published on Engineering News, where the role players explain how a project like this works.

Scroll up to the audio player to hear more from the CEO of the Localisation Support Fund