SOUTH AFRICA – South African retailer, Spar Group, has introduced a new concept in its stores dubbed The Food Stall, featuring a wide range of authentic, ready-made, and artisanal food choices.
SPAR has always featured in the deli space and traditionally deli service counters that have been a saving grace for time-strapped customers that are looking for a hearty meal.
The new concept is set to feature fresh food offering and home meal replacements, providing customers with so many choices that they don’t have to shop anywhere else.
“The Food Stall at SPAR offers a unique experience at every store, but in essence, it’s a range of freshly prepared, tasty and convenient foods.
“Not only can you expect great food, but the range is also exciting – from the best, tastiest local options available to the more traditional takeout meals – from McCOY Pies and Chikka Chicken to Fire & Grill, Pizza and many more,” said Pianca Meintjies, SPAR Group Home Meal Replacement Manager, The FOOD STALL.
Food Stalls are usually associated with markets and street food and SPAR has been truly innovative to bring these authentic, highly-original eating experiences under their roof, available to you every day, in an environment you already know and love – your local SPAR.
“Our customers are family and we want to bring wonder, intrigue, anticipation and adventure back to their meals – The FOOD STALL is the perfect way to deliver this and we can’t wait until all our SPAR stores are wowing their customers with new tastes, personal touches and unexpected delight,” adds Pianca.
The food stall will be a continuous focus for the group, with more launches scheduled to take place as its stores spread across the country adopt the concept.
Alongside the new launch, Spar has highlighted it will make environmentally-friendly changes to its food packaging to complement the new offering.
“It’s important to us that we offer responsible convenience, and that’s why we’ve invested in sourcing better packaging options available to all stores to complement the launch of their FOOD STALL concept in-store,” Pianca said.
The Shoprite Group also recently replaced its rotisserie chicken packaging with fully recyclable, responsibly sourced cardboard boxes in a bid to promote a circular economy.
Spar also plans to fully stake its claim in the online shopping space in the coming months as it ramps up the rollout of its new online shopping platform, SPAR2U.
The e-commerce platform will deliver both groceries and liquor, with the service already being piloted in some stores.
“There is great enthusiasm from our independent retailers to implement SPAR’s new online shopping platform, SPAR2U. Our online platform is receiving positive reviews and a large number of stores are preparing to launch online within their communities in the coming months,” the group said.
SPAR2U launches in a crowded online same-day delivery space – with Pick n Pay, Woolworths and Checkers all offering same-day delivery services.
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