Pick n Pay teams up with Springbok captain Siya Kolisi
Pick n Pay has announced a collaboration with Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, with the rugby legend now the retailer’s official ambassador.
This partnership comes after Pick n Pay became the national rugby team’s official grocery partner in a four-year contract as a Tier 1 Sponsor of SA Rugby.
On Thursday, 5 February, Pick n Pay announced that its partnership with the Springbok captain kicked off with a visit to the retailer’s Waterfront and Constantia store.
Pick n Pay CEO Sean Summers said the collaboration is grounded in substance rather than symbolism.
“Siya represents leadership with integrity, humility, and heart, qualities that resonate deeply with who we are as a business,” he said.
“This partnership is about shared values and showing up for South Africans in ways that are real, consistent, and meaningful.”
The managing executive of Pick n Pay’s retail division, Dallas Langman, explained that the collaboration signifies more than a traditional endorsement.
Langman said the partnership will consist of community-focused initiatives, with Kolisi set to shine a light on “the people behind the brand, from store teams to suppliers, and on the role Pick n Pay plays in homes and communities across the country”.
Kolisi said he is proud to be associated with a brand that “genuinely cares and acts where it matters”, adding that the retailer has been part of everyday life for many South Africans, including his family.
Pick n Pay explained that the collaboration also builds on the long-standing relationship between the retailer’s Feed the Nation Foundation and the Kolisi Foundation.
Pick n Pay launched its Feed the Nation Foundation during the Covid-19 pandemic to combat hunger and food insecurity, providing food parcels to schools, child-headed households, and vulnerable communities across the country.
Founded by Siya and Rachel Kolisi, the Kolisi Foundation partners with organisations that have an established presence in communities, aiming to bring about systemic change through sport and education, address gender-based violence, and contribute to food security.
Pick n Pay said that, over the course of their six-year partnership, these foundations have served more than 19 million meals.
Pick n Pay in green and gold
Pick n Pay announced its decision to sponsor the Springboks in March 2025, when it signed a four-year contract to become a Tier 1 Sponsor of SA Rugby.
The new Springbok jersey for 2025, including Pick n Pay’s logo, was officially revealed on Friday, 27 June, and marked a new departure from SA Rugby’s sponsorship model.
Historically, the rights to the front of the playing and training jerseys have been the preserve of a single partner.
However, the Springboks’ official playing jersey now features Pick n Pay’s logo on the back, while FNB’s is displayed on the front, while the team’s training jerseys feature the inverse.
Summers told Daily Investor that this sponsorship stemmed from his desire to celebrate the unification that the Springboks bring.
He explained that the sponsorship provided a wonderful feeling of unification within the company, which consists of around 30,000 people in Boxer and 60,000 in Pick n Pay.
“What that has done to sort of give another clarion call for them has been amazing,” Summers said.
The CEO further explained that Pick n Pay has always had an excellent reputation in South Africa, seen as synonymous with supermarketing and a good corporate citizen.
Therefore, Summers’ decision to sponsor the Springboks, alongside the retailer’s other sponsorship initiatives, is intended to reinforce that reputation.
“We’re investing a lot back into community, into schools and into all the stuff that we used to do in the old days,” he said.
Pick n Pay and Siya Kolisi
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