#affordability

The direct-to-consumer concentrate-refill model fits only urban, routine-oriented, moderately affluent buyers. It cannot reach price-sensitive mass-market shoppers, low-density rural areas, or people without a steady ordering routine, so most of the market stays on plastic.

Remote workers on South Africa's nomad visa pay R25,000 to R30,000 a month for one-bed flats against a local median wage near R5,500, while short-term rentals absorb central stock. Residents of Bo-Kaap, Woodstock and Salt River face a second, market-driven wave of displacement.

Dense, low-canopy, dark-surfaced neighborhoods run several degrees hotter than nearby areas during heatwaves, concentrating health risk and energy costs — and the burden falls hardest on low-income districts least able to adapt.