The iconic South African Italian restaurant that rolled out stores across the country

Panarottis has expanded its footprint from 65 stores in 2006 to 157 in 2026, adding an average of 4 stores per year for 21 years.

Founded and owned by the Spur Corporation in 1990, Panarottis has grown into one of South Africa’s most recognisable restaurant chains.

Panarottis was founded by the same man who founded Spur, Allen Ambor, who wanted to expand beyond traditional steak-and-burger restaurants.

He settled on an Italian restaurant concept after the Spur group noticed a gap in the market for family-friendly, Italian-style pizza and pasta.

The first Panarottis store was opened in December 1990 in Tygervalley, Cape Town, ready to capitalise on the popularity of pizza and pasta in South Africa.

The Panarottis tagline, “Big on Family, Big on Pizza”, positioned the restaurant as a family‐focused South African brand serving hand‐pressed pizza and pasta.

This positioning of Panarottis as a go-to restaurant for family gatherings is the same strategy that propelled Spur to household-name status.

To this day, Panarottis prides itself on preparing pizzas by hand, using the same century-old tradition used by “those that paved the way”.

“Our Italian 00 Stagioni flour creates the perfect dough, which is proofed for 24 hours before being hand-pressed by our Master pizza chefs for your enjoyment,” the restaurant’s website states.

This approach has paid off, with Panarottis boasting 157 stores and franchised restaurant turnover of R1.21 billion in Spur’s 2026 financial year.

While Panarottis is 36 years old, and Spur Corporation has been re-listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange since 1999, the company’s available annual financial statements only go back to 2006.

Therefore, the graph below shows Panarottis’ store growth from 2006 to 2026, where the data was shared.

From R6.56 million to R41.90 million

Panarottis’ income has grown alongside its footprint over the past two decades, with the brand going from a before-tax profit of R6.56 million in 2006 to R41.90 million in 2026.

However, this is not to say that it has been smooth sailing for Panarottis.

The group grew slowly between 2006 and 2012 and struggled with a store it operated in Australia.

Panarottis’ footprint hovered between 57 and 65 stores over this period, and its revenue peaked at R12.95 million in the 2012 financial year.

This changed between 2013 and 2017, as Panarottis experienced rapid growth. Its footprint expanded to reach 92 stores in 2017, while its revenue reached R35.47 million that same year.

Over this five-year period, Panarottis also exited its struggling Australian operations following two consecutive years of impairments exceeding R2 million.

It was also during this time that Spur launched the upmarket concept Casa Bella, which it grouped with Panarottis under a new Pizza & Pasta segment from 2016 onwards.

Like many restaurant businesses, Panarottis and the Spur Corporation took a hit at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, as lockdown regulations in South Africa restricted consumers’ ability to eat out.

Panarottis’ sales were up 3.1% for the first eight months to February 2020, but dropped 24.7% for the full year due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The segment’s revenue fell 27.8% to R27.13 million, and the group gave its franchisees temporary fee relief.

However, in the 2021 financial year, Panarottis was already showing signs of recovery. Spur started to report the brand’s turnover that year, which was R531.7 million.

From 2022 to now, Panarottis has gone from strength to strength. Its segment revenue recovered to R31.27 million in 2022, close to pre-COVID levels.

Since then, Panarottis has consistently grown its turnover, revenue, before-tax profit, and footprint.

All of these metrics reached record highs in the 2026 financial year, with segment profit growing 19.51% to an all-time high of R41.90 million.

After Spur, Panarottis is the group’s second-biggest standalone restaurant brand by turnover, accounting for 9.87% of franchised restaurant turnover in 2026.

The graphs below show Panarottis’ financial performance over the past two decades, where data was available.

Note that between the 2016 and 2020 financial years, Panarottis’ figures included Casa Bella under the ‘Pizza & Pasta’ segment.

The figures from 2021 onwards reflect Panarottis’ standalone results after Casa Bella was reclassified under ‘Speciality Brands’.