These join the existing 21 Crispy Chicken outlets, 2 Doughnut Delite outlets and 12 Biltong Bars, within select FreshStop stores across the country.
Joe Boyle, director at FreshStop, explains, “With fish being the fastest growing food segment in South Africa, based on the number of outlets opened during the past few years, we expect Hooked On Fish to do very well. We have opened four Hooked On Fish outlets and we are planning to rollout an additional five by the end of the 2016.”
In contrast to the national popularity of fish and chips, FreshStop as a new regional concept has introduced Mr Brown’s, a smoked BBQ product that originates from the Southern US. It is a standalone brand that has partnered with FreshStop and has three outlets open in Hillcrest, Gilletts and Cato Ridge in the Durban area. “The Mr Brown’s product offering has done extremely well in KwaZulu-Natal and in Hillcrest specifically, where it contributes 14% to the store’s sales participation,” explains Craig Davis, new category development manager at FreshStop.
The latest venture, a burger/mixed grill concept called Grill to Go, opened its first outlet at FreshStop Penlyn in Cape Town in early December 2015. “It is a completely new concept that we’ve been working on for the past year and it has received a lot of interest from our retailers so far, so we’re confident that it is going to do very well. Our second outlet opened in Maclear in the Eastern Cape in January and 3rd opened in Mafikeng in June 2016, with another five outlets planned this year still”, adds Davis.
FreshStop’s approach provides store retailers with a basket of offerings to choose from to suit their specific customer base and location, at affordable entry costs. According to Boyle, “Our store retailers want to be in a position to offer their customers new brands and food lines to attract further shoppers and drive sales. Retailers can also select various concepts that complement one another, such as a Seattle Coffee and Doughnut Delite; or a selection of two proteins such as Crispy Chicken and Hooked On Fish to cover various target markets. Convenience retail brands must have a solid food service strategy to be successful in today’s rapidly changing retail environment and our selection of fast food concepts with low cost of entry and shared operational expenses form part of this future view of our business.”
