Companies

SA firm in deals to spruce up retailers

kihara

Timothy Kihara, Managing Director of Cleanshelf supermarkets. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Tier 3 supermarkets Quickmatt, Cleanshelf and Tumaini have sought consultancy services from South African fresh food specialists Professional Vision Group (PVG) as they seek a competitive edge amid growing cut-throat competition from international retailers.

Consultancy firm PVG’s co-founder Tim Faull told the Business Daily that the retailers had each sought the company’s services as they worked towards setting up more modern fresh foods segments ahead of opening new stores.

Last week, Cleanshelf and Quickmart launched their latest stores in Kayole and Lavington, respectively. The new supermarkets featured fresh foods departments, unlike their other conventional branches, stock a wide variety of farm produce, meat and fast moving processed foods.

“We thought it prudent to engage people with a vast experience in the fresh food department. This is the first time we are doing this.

“We also acknowledge that good margins can be realised from the food sections but it has to be executed and managed well,” said Cleanshelf co-founder and Managing Director Timothy Kihara. Local retail store design and fittings provider Renova Limited referred the consultancy firm to the supermarkets.

The consultancy company has a team of 14 in the country with specialty in various fields including meat, pastry, produce and distribution. “We are a fresh foods consulting company and our core competencies revolve around three key areas, consulting; where we help brands like this (Cleanshelf) layout its blueprint, concepts, menus and recipes, we also train to ensure continuity and developing a food management system that covers everything from procurement to training; the system is also an e-learning platform that enables us to deliver training from anywhere in the world,” said Mr Faull.