Food Business Africa

Shoprite banks on home market, opens multiple stores in South Africa

May 6, 2021May 6, 2021 Editor

SOUTH AFRICA – Africa’s largest retailer Shoprite Holdings, has expanded its footprints in its home-market, South Africa, launching four new stores across three provinces. Being on an expansion spree, the retailer broke the record of opening the new stores, within a span of three days, in the last week of April 2021 The supermarket chain owner has revealed that it has entered markets that were not previously served by the group and those showing strong population growth, introducing both the Shoprite and Checkers banners. The new outlets include: Checkers Jukskei…

South African fryers maker Kombo King to expand market following Vumela investment

May 6, 2021May 6, 2021 Editor

SOUTH AFRICA – Kombo King, a South African kitchen equipment supplier focusing on the fried food niche market, has received an undisclosed amount of investment from the Vumela Fund, established by FNB Business and Edge Growth. The company’s fryers enable retail stores to save on electricity usage, oil usage, kitchen space and the opportunity to increase customer service speed and increased menu offerings. Kombo King was founded in 2015 by entrepreneurs Zitulele KK Combi and Ari Jacobson in response to the growing demand for convenience foods at an affordable price…

Yum Brands Q1 profits more than triple buoyed by elevated appetite for fast foods

May 4, 2021May 7, 2021 Editor

US – Yum Brands, the owner of KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut, has had its profits more than triple in Q1 as business improved following easing of Covid-19 restrictions. The company’s profits during the quarter jumped to US$326 million up from US$83 million recorded in 2020. The profits were also higher than the US$262 million earned in the same three months in 2019. Sales at stores open at least a year, a key gauge of a restaurant operator’s health, climbed 9% with KFC’s same-store sales increasing 14% in the…

Competition Commission of India approves BigBasket’s 64% stake sale to Tata Digital

May 4, 2021May 4, 2021 Editor

INDIA – The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has given the green light for Tata Sons’ proposal to acquire a majority stake in Alibaba-backed BigBasket. Tata Digital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, had sought CCI’s approval to acquire a 64.3% stake in Supermarket Grocery Supplies, the business-to-business arm of BigBasket, through a mix of primary and secondary share purchases. This is after the group had finalised a US$1.2 billion deal to acquire a majority stake in BigBasket, of which US$200-250 million would be a primary cash infusion into the…

Carrefour Kenya takes over Shoprite’s space at Garden City mall, opens 13th outlet

Apr 29, 2021Apr 29, 2021 Editor

KENYA – Carrefour Kenya, has opened its 13th store in Kenya at the Garden City mall, taking over the space previously occupied by the exited South African retailer, Shoprite. The new store is its second on the bustling Nairobi-Thika highway, joining the outlet at Thika Road Mall. According to the supermarket chain owner, the new branch will operate as a Carrefour Market focusing on stocking a wide range of food items and selected non-food items alongside small electrical appliances. It is set to create both direct and indirect job opportunities…

Zomato files for $1.11bn IPO as food delivery surges in pandemic

Apr 28, 2021Apr 28, 2021 Editor

INDIA – India food delivery platform Zomato has filed for a US$1.11 billion IPO as food delivery surges in India amid a raging pandemic that has so far infceted more than 18 million people and killed over 200,000 others. Launched in 2008, Zomato is one of India’s most prominent startups, currently present in 24 countries and reported to employ more than 5,000 people, according to its website. The company, along with domestic rival Swiggy, backed by Accel, dominates the Indian food delivery market, which research firm RedSeer estimates is worth…

Zomato expands meal delivery in India amid surging covid-19 cases, appoints 4 women to board

Apr 27, 2021Apr 27, 2021 Editor

INDIA – Food delivery platform, Zomato has expanded the offering of its meal delivery service to include home-style mini-menus to cater for surging demand of food order amid a worsening covid-19 crisis. The new, curated menus in the delivery app’s platform include options such as khichdi, soups, rajma chawal, and other Indian staples and have been launched in partnership with thousands of restaurants in the country. Chief Executive Deepinder Goyal said that expansion of the meals available on the platform was necessitated by surging demands from people with poor health…

Checkers launches Sixty60 grocery delivery service in North West province for the first time

Apr 24, 2021Apr 24, 2021 Editor

SOUTH AFRICA – Consumer goods retailer owned by Shoprite, Checkers has expanded the footprints of its Sixty60 on demand one-hour grocery delivery service to the North West province. The fast growing service is now available in the vicinity of Checkers Hyper Klerksdorp, with more locations to follow in the near future. Since first launching in late 2019 in a few neighbourhoods in the Western Cape and Gauteng, Checkers has rapidly expanded Sixty60 throughout the country and the service is now available from over 150 stores nationwide. With more than 1.2…

Carrefour Kenya ordered to revise supplier contracts by Competition Tribunal following allegations of abuse

Apr 23, 2021Apr 23, 2021 Editor

KENYA – Carrefour Kenya, operated by Dubai-based conglomerate Majid Al Futtaim is the second major retailer to be in hot soup for the abuse of Competition Authority of Kenya’s (CAK) Buyer Power. The retailer has been ordered to revise all its agreements with some 700 suppliers within a month after the Competition Tribunal found it has been exploiting traders. This follows the supermarket chain owner losing an appeal at the Competition Tribunal, where the CAK and yoghurt supplier, Orchards Limited were respondents. Orchards filed a complaint against the retailer on…

SA retailer Pick n Pay reports 21.4% decline in annual earnings weighed down trade restrictions

Apr 23, 2021Apr 23, 2021 Editor

SOUTH AFRICA – South African retail chain, Pick n Pay reported an increase in group turnover by 4.3% to R93.1 billion (US$6.5 billion) for the full year ended February 2021, compared to R89.3 billion (US$6.2 billion) attained in the previous corresponding period. The gains were however offset by trading restrictions on non-essential goods and services for parts of the year, which resulted in an estimated R4 billion (US$279.5 million) in lost sales, and R200 million (US$13.9 million) in additional costs related to the group’s operational response to the Covid-19 pandemic.…