The Heritage Month campaign turns an everyday staple into a national conversation about identity, food culture and what makes South Africa uniquely South African.
Seen Here: This Heritage Month, SASKO is turning one of South Africa’s everyday favourites into a national conversation — and they’re asking YOU to have your say. From the iconic Kota and Gatsby to the Bunny Chow, Braaibroodjie, Boerie Roll, Dagwood, Vetkoek and countless family favourites, South Africa has no shortage of contenders. Now, SASKO wants the nation to help name the 12 Official Sandwiches of South Africa. Photo Credit: Supplied
JOHANNESBURG — South Africans are being invited to settle one of the country’s most delicious debates: which sandwiches deserve to become part of the nation’s official food heritage?
This Heritage Month, bakery brand SASKO has launched an ambitious consumer-led campaign calling on South Africans to help identify the 12 Official Sandwiches of South Africa — drawing inspiration from the country’s 12 official languages and the diverse food traditions they represent.
Rather than simply revisiting familiar Heritage Month symbols such as the braai and traditional family recipes, SASKO is putting an everyday staple at the centre of the conversation: the humble sandwich.
The campaign aims to transform something found in lunchboxes, kitchens, cafés, tuck shops and family homes across the country into a celebration of South African identity.
A sandwich debate with a South African twist
From the Kota, deeply associated with Soweto’s quarter-loaf food culture, to the Gatsby, a Cape Flats favourite renowned for its generous size and sharing appeal, South Africa has developed a remarkable range of sandwich traditions.
Other contenders include the bunny chow, braaibroodjie, boerie roll, chicken mayo, bacon, egg and cheese, Dagwood, chip sandwich and vetkoek.
But SASKO is leaving the final conversation in the hands of consumers.
The campaign invites South Africans to nominate the sandwiches they believe deserve recognition, creating a people-led list intended to reflect the country’s diverse tastes, communities and culinary traditions.
“Mbalenhle Sithole, Marketing Manager at SASKO Bakeries, says the campaign recognises just how personal food can be in South African homes.
“A sandwich is one of the most personal things in a South African home. Two people can open the same loaf and end up with two completely different stories.”
With SASKO having been part of South African kitchens for close to a century, Sithole says the brand does not want to dictate what should represent the country’s sandwich culture.
“We have been in this country’s kitchens for close to a century, and in that time, we have learned that we do not get to decide what South Africa eats. South Africa does.”
That philosophy is central to the campaign, which gives consumers the opportunity to shape the final list themselves.
From the kitchen to the national conversation
The initiative is also designed to make participation accessible.
Consumers can purchase any SASKO loaf, buns or rolls, scan the QR code on the packaging, enter the last four digits of the barcode and submit their favourite sandwich via text or voice note.
Every valid entry qualifies for an instant reward as well as entry into the campaign’s weekly and grand-prize cash draws.
Participants can also share photographs or videos of their creations on social media, tag @sasko_sa and use #12OfficialSandwichesOfSA for additional opportunities to win.
The campaign has a total prize pool of R500,000, including more than 26,500 instant airtime rewards, weekly cash prizes of R12,000 until 16 October 2026, and grand prizes of R20,000, R10,000 and R6,000.
J’Something joins the conversation
Adding further cultural weight to the campaign is musician, chef and hospitality entrepreneur J’Something, who will serve as its public face throughout Heritage Month.
His involvement brings together two of South Africa’s most popular cultural languages — music and food — while reinforcing the campaign’s focus on the everyday experiences that bring people together.
For SASKO, the campaign represents an opportunity to move beyond conventional Heritage Month storytelling and invite consumers to actively participate in defining what South African food heritage looks like.
The brand says it wants the conversation to extend beyond nostalgia and into a debate about the food people actually eat.
“This is a brand proudly rooted in South African heritage, and one that cares about making things better by celebrating every tasty slice of our heritage,” Sithole says.
“We are not asking the country to look backwards at us. We are asking it to look at itself, and to argue, loudly, about which sandwich deserves official status.”
Putting everyday food on the heritage table
The campaign taps into an increasingly important space for consumer brands: the intersection between heritage, cultural identity and everyday consumer behaviour.
For SASKO, the sandwich provides an accessible way of exploring that intersection.
Unlike heritage foods that may be associated with specific regions, communities or traditions, sandwiches can cross social and geographical boundaries while still carrying highly personal stories.
The final list of 12 is therefore expected to spark plenty of debate — from what qualifies as a sandwich to which regional favourites deserve national recognition.
And that debate may be precisely the point.
For a brand that has spent decades in South African kitchens, the initiative seeks to create something that lasts beyond September: a national list shaped by the people who make, eat and share these sandwiches every day.
Ultimately, the 12 Official Sandwiches of South Africa campaign is asking a deceptively simple question with a much bigger cultural meaning:
What does South Africa taste like — and who gets to decide?
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