Wellness culture and Indigenous food imaginaries in South Africa: a multimodal critical discourse analysis of superfood marketing

In South Africa, modernization and Western influence have produced remarkable dietary shifts, with rising consumption of meat, sugar and fat. These changes, coupled with growing public health concerns, have helped fuel a wellness culture in which superfoods are marketed as alternatives to highly processed food. This study uses multimodal critical discourse analysis (MCDA) to examine the digital marketing strategies of a South African food brand, Soaring Free Superfoods. This brand frames its products as sensually indulgent and scientifically grounded, promoting their nutritional value and health benefits, and attributing a distant Indigenous origin to their ingredients, which are presented as ‘natural’ and healthy. Moreover, the brand positions its products as symbols of moral virtue and health-consciousness, turning them into a symbolic capital distinguishing its consumers from the wider population. Overall, the marketing of Soaring Free products reflects the adaptation of healthy eating discourses prevalent in Western societies in a non-Western context.