Category: Food service, Retail, E-commerce

Bolt Food South Africa expands into Johannesburg as it guns for rivals

Editor

SOUTH AFRICA – Bolt Food South Africa, the food delivery arm of ride-hailing firm Bolt, has expanded into Johannesburg, targeting to take on main competitors Uber Eats and Mr D Food in the market. The food delivery app, which launched in Cape Town during the onset of the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, says it has experienced 50% month-on-month growth since the beginning of the year and is betting on competitive prices, as it eyes nationwide expansion. “We piloted Bolt Food in Cape Town last year, with outstanding results. Restaurants and…

Read More

Nigerian food, home service provider Eden Life closes US$1.4m seed funding round

Editor

NIGERIA – Eden Life, Africa’s first home services app strategically positioning itself as the go-to platform for home service such as food delivery, has completed a US$1.4 million Seed round, led by UK-based LocalGlobe, along with participation from Samurai Incubate, Future Africa, Village Global, Rising Tide Africa and Enza Capital. The funding round brings Eden Life’s total investment to date to US$2 million following pre-seed backing from all of Andela’s original co-founders, and additional accelerator support over the last 18 months. The new capital raised will be deployed to build…

Read More

Nigeria’s Chicken Republic brand owner boasts of 200 outlets in West Africa

Editor

NIGERIA – Food Concepts, a leading Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) operator in West Africa has opened its 200th store in the region. Established in 2001, the fast-food chain operates stores across Nigeria and Ghana, trading under the Chicken Republic, PieXpress and Chop Box brands. The opening of the new store is a significant milestone for the restaurant owner who operates alongside players such as Eat n Go, in the highly competitive market. The master franchisee for Domino’s Pizza, Cold Stone Creamery, and Pinkberry Gourmet Frozen Yoghurt, in the same fashion…

Read More

Egyptian startup Talabeyah digitizing mom and pop stores raises US$1.1m to boost growth

Editor

EGYPT – Egypt-based startup Talabeyah, running a food and grocery B2B e-commerce and distribution platform, has raised US$1.1 million in pre-seed funding round from a group of strategic angel investors, to help boost its strong early growth. Founded by Karim Nassef, Amr Abbas, Khaled Hussein and Adel Hodroj in July 2020, Talabeyah provides a tailored simple solution for retailers, allowing them to order inventory in one click. Its end-to-end model also provides FMCG suppliers with bigger reach to retailers, direct marketing communication channels, and real-time data to enable them for…

Read More

McDonald’s Indian franchise goes on a market share offensive, reveals plans to launch 200 stores in the next 5 years

Editor

INDIA – Westlife Development, the owner and operator of McDonald’s restaurants in the west and south of India, is on a market expansion drive, revealing plans to add around 200 additional restaurants in its network within the next five years.   The company said it is planning to invest around Rs 800-1,000 crore in the opening of new stores and also in revamping existing stores with enhanced digital capabilities such as self-ordering kiosks and table services.  Westlife Development said the investment will strengthen its leadership position in the burger, chicken and beverage segments further and aid the growth of the…

Read More

Famous Brands makes new board appointment, expects sharp improvement in headline earnings

Editor

SOUTH AFRICA – South African restaurant franchisor, Famous Brands, has announced the appointment of Ms Busisiwe Mathe as an independent Non-executive Director to the Board of Directors of the company, effective from 20 October 2021. Busisiwe, who holds a B. Com Accounting and a Higher Diploma in Accounting from the University of Witwatersrand, is a Chartered Accountant and a registered member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. She has held several leadership positions at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) including as Chairperson of the South African Governing Board, member of the…

Read More

McDonald’s China to train 75,000 restaurant workers in newly opened Hamburger University

Editor

CHINA –  American multinational fast-food restaurant McDonald’s has said it expects to train and develop more than 75,000 restaurant workers in China at newly Hamburger University over the next five years.    The Hamburger University is housed in McDonald’s China new eight-story, sustainability-focused headquarters in Shanghai.  According to the fast-food chain,  the new headquarters was built with a focus on energy-saving and environmental responsibility, as well as promotion of cross-functional collaboration and flexible working.    The building has no fixed seating arrangements for employees. Instead, the building offers employees greater flexibility by providing desks,…

Read More

Distributor of petroleum products RUBiS Energy diversifies offering with launch of Brioche restaurant

Editor

KENYA – Multinational oil and gas marketing company, RUBiS Energy has opened a restaurant franchise dubbed Brioche in Kenya, as part of its retail and marketing strategy to provide world-class quality products, and convenience to motorists on the go, saving time and money. Brioche is known to be a high quality, affordable, convenient bakery and restaurant brand inspired by the French cuisine tradition. The outlet is currently in five RUBiS branded stations in the capital, Nairobi, with more expected to be unveiled within the RUBiS network of service stations, reports…

Read More

Nestlé owned healthy meal company Freshly appoints Anna Fabrega as CEO

Editor

USA – US-based freshly prepared meal delivery service Freshly has appointed Anna Fabrega –the current chief commercialization officer- as CEO, effective immediately.   Fabrega is succeeding Freshly co-founder Mike Wystrach, who has headed the company since its inception in 2012.   Wystrach’s abrupt replacement as leader of Freshly and transition to new role as advisor to the Freshly board of directors comes less than a year after the company was purchased by Nestlé.  “It’s never an easy decision to move on from something you’ve built from the ground up, but I’m excited to take my passion for creating new innovations for consumers on to my…

Read More

Burger King South Africa registers improvement in loss on back of higher turnover

Editor

SOUTH AFRICA – Grand Parade Investments (GPI), the master franchise holder for Burger King in South Africa has showcased stellar performance in its full year ended June 2021, as it awaits finalization of the disposal plan. The fast-food chain saw its revenue grow to R1.349 billion (US$90m) compared to R1.010 billion (US$67.62m) in the prior year. The chain of hamburger fast-food restaurant’s headline contribution improved by R11.8 million (US$790,000) during the year from a loss of R25.5 million (US$1.7m) in the prior period to a loss of R13.7 million (US$917,000)…

Read More