South Africa: Pick n Pay taking on Fruit & Veg City
Now Fruit & Veg City is taking on Pick n Pay, in some cases on its own turf. Its Food Lover’s Market store, in the same complex as Pick n Pay’s Hypermarket in Norwood, Johannesburg, is thriving.
Fruit & Veg City has an annual turnover of R5bn up from R1.6bn in 2006 — and it continues to gain customers.
By contrast, sales at Pick n Pay, which has always prided itself on being a “fresh food” provider, for the six months to August were R28.3bn.
Pick n Pay is much bigger, but Fruit & Veg is growing quickly.
It used to sell only fruit and vegetables but now also has bakeries, butcheries and delis.
It has 114 large stores, mainly branded Food Lover’s Market and Fruit & Veg City. It has also opened 103 FreshStop stores at Caltex garages over three years and will open 50 more a year for the next three to four years.
It aims to open eight to 15 Food Lover’s Market stores a year (some being conversions from Fruit & Veg City) and five to 10 new stores in the rest of Africa next year. It already has stores in Namibia, Australia, Zimbabwe, Reunion, Mauritius and Botswana.
Source: bdlive.co.za
