Jamie Oliver champions a healthier lifestyle with Checkers’ Simple Truth brand
The collaboration forms part of a strategic marketing campaign that blends humour with purpose, featuring Oliver alongside South African personalities including rugby players Pieter-Steph du Toit and Trevor Nyakane, and comedian Marc Lottering.
Private label growth aligned with consumer trends
Since its launch in 2018, Simple Truth has grown into one of South Africa’s leading accessible health-focused private label, now spanning 287 products across 49 categories.
The range caters to diverse dietary needs — including vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and high-protein options — while excluding artificial flavours, sweeteners, added MSG, and unnecessary preservatives.
As Oliver says: “Choosing doesn’t have to be hard, and Checkers delivers on that no-junk promise.”
According to Checkers, customers purchasing Simple Truth products spend nearly three times more per basket compared to the average shopper, reflecting the brand’s ability to drive value and customer loyalty in a competitive retail environment.
Expanding the range
Jamie points out that shoppers are spoilt for choice with Simple Truth’s expanding range, which includes customer favourites such as the peanut butter that contains no added salt or sugar, the 100% pure, unheated and unfiltered raw honey sourced from local wild blossoms, or the organic coconut water made from young green coconuts, with no artificial flavours or colours.
Free-range chicken and eggs are selected from local farms where they are free to roam outdoors as nature intended. And the Simple Truth Certified Natural Lamb was the first certified natural lamb in South Africa, with no added hormones or antibiotics.
The latest in the organic stable includes an array of pantry staples including canned diced tomatoes in tomato juice, and a range of beans - butter beans, kidney beans, chickpeas and a four-bean mix. These products are convenient and ready to use, as well as 100% organic which ensures the products are free from synthetic pesticides and genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Strategic significance
Checkers’ sustained investment in Simple Truth underlines a broader retail trend: the premiumisation of private labels through health, wellness, and sustainability. By aligning with Oliver — an international authority on healthy living — the retailer is positioning Simple Truth as both aspirational and accessible, strengthening its competitive edge in South Africa’s R225bn e-commerce and retail sector.
As consumer spending increasingly reflects lifestyle-driven priorities, Simple Truth demonstrates how private labels can capture share of wallet, build brand loyalty, and set new benchmarks for affordability in the wellness category.