The brands taking over South African petrol stations

OK Express, SPAR Express, Pick n Pay Express, and Woolworths Foodstop are steadily taking over South Africa’s R33 billion petrol station forecourts market. 

Data from Trade Intelligence shows that these brands have grown their footprint strongly in the past five years, opening 145 new stores and growing by 44.6%. 

While this growth has slowed in the first six months of 2024, with only six new stores opened, these brands have acquired lucrative partnership deals with some of South Africa’s largest petrol stations.

Shoprite-owned OK Express is the market leader in this regard, as it has partnerships with Puma and TotalEnergies. 

OK Express stores are also becoming more prominent in Sasol petrol stations around the country as the historic retail brand reinvents itself. 

OK’s total brand portfolio, including Ok Foods and OK MiniMark, has over 500 stores in South Africa. It is the only Shoprite brand with a franchise division. 

This enables each store to have its own identity and product offerings that are unique to its market. Crucially, it also enables the petrol station owner to share in the success of the convenience store as a franchisee. 

SPAR has partnered its express brand with Shell, despite the Anglo-Dutch petroleum giant having its own convenience offering under the Shell Select brand. 

SPAR Express also operates under a franchise model, enabling it to tap into many of the benefits from which OK has profited. 

Pick n Pay has hitched its wagon to BP petrol stations in South Africa and has rapidly grown its footprint across the country. 

Woolworths’s Foodstop brand is present in many Engen garages. However, unlike other Woolworths stores, these are all franchisee-owned. 

While South Africa’s biggest retailers are increasingly tapping into the petrol station forecourt market, Food Lovers Market-owned FreshStop remains the dominant player. 

FreshStop’s partnership with Caltex and now Astron Energy has proven incredibly successful for the company. 

The partnership began in 2009 and was extended for another decade earlier this year as Glencore continues to overhaul the Caltex brand, transforming petrol stations into Astron Energy garages. 

The Caltex/Astron Energy forecourt network is one of the largest in the country, with over 800 sites currently in operation. 

Since its launch in 2009, Food Lovers Market has invested nearly R1 billion in the FreshStop brand, enabling it to grow strongly and bring Seattle Coffee Company into its stable. 

When the partnership extension was announced, FreshStop CEO Joe Boyle said the convenience store’s growth had created over 7,000 jobs. 

FreshStop currently has 330 stores—almost as many as its four biggest competitors combined—and 126 Seattle outlets alongside its convenience stores.

Trade Intelligence noted that these store formats are set for strong growth in the future as retail sales at forecourts are uncorrelated to fuel sales. They have grown strongly over the past five years while fuel sales have declined.

This indicates that convenience is becoming more important in competition between South Africa’s largest retailers.

Trade Intelligence’s data showed that forecourt retail sales grew 8.5% in 2023, bringing the total sales in this sector to R33 billion.

The retail footprint within forecourts is also steadily growing as convenience stores become increasingly profitable for large, established retailers. 

The fuel forecourt footprint has increased by 14.5% over the last five years, with nearly 600 new forecourts opening since 2019.

The report said this indicates that fuel retailers are ramping up their focus on forecourt retail to supplement revenue. 

“As fuel sales continue to decline, non-fuel retail offerings are gaining prominence in the forecourt sector,” said Sandy Sutton, Retail Analyst at Trade Intelligence.