Operational consistency is the brand. A centralised supply chain, standardised formats and an integrated technology stack are what let a young challenger deliver a repeatable product at scale.
Supply chain & the central commissary
Poultry is sourced from established South African producers — Rainbow Chicken and Astral Foods among them — under supply agreements that build in volume commitments and, critically, dual-sourcing to manage price and avian-flu risk. A central commissary handles marination, portioning and standardised prep, distributing to outlets on a cold-chain schedule. This guarantees recipe consistency, concentrates procurement leverage, and de-skills the in-store operation.
Analyst flagThe commissary the brief costs at zero
The operations plan depends on a central commissary, yet the R6.0m-per-store cost schedule contains no line item for it. A lean commissary — building fit-out, processing equipment, cold-chain and a distribution capability — is realistically a R25m capital item in Phase 1 alone, expanding as the estate grows. Omitting it is the largest single driver of the understated capital stack. This Plan restores it to both the capital request and the depreciation schedule.
Production & quality
Standardised recipes, centralised prep and rigorous store-level SOPs deliver a consistent product with a manageable in-store skill requirement. Quality assurance runs from supplier audits through commissary controls to per-store checklists, with the loyalty app providing a continuous customer-feedback loop.
Technology stack
- Point-of-sale. A unified POS across the estate for real-time sales, labour and inventory visibility.
- Delivery integration. Direct integration with Uber Eats and Mr D, with unified order management to protect kitchen throughput.
- Loyalty app. First-party retention, promotions and data capture.
- Back office. Centralised procurement, financial and workforce systems feeding a single management dashboard.
Location & site-selection strategy
Site selection is the highest-leverage operational decision in QSR: a store’s location largely determines its ceiling on unit volume, and a poor site cannot be fixed operationally. The Company applies a disciplined, data-led site model, weighted differently for each format.
|
Criterion |
Flagship weighting |
Express weighting |
Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Footfall / catchment density |
High |
High |
Primary driver of unit volume |
|
Visibility & access |
High |
Medium |
Drive-by trade and brand presence |
|
Delivery-radius population |
Medium |
High |
Express leans on delivery catchment |
|
Rent as % of expected sales |
High |
High |
Occupancy is a fixed drag; discipline protects margin |
|
Competitor proximity |
Medium |
Low |
Avoid incumbent saturation; township white space |
|
Community fit |
Medium |
High |
Express strategy is community-anchored |
Flagship sites target high-footfall mall and CBD locations where the full dine-in experience and brand-building value justify higher occupancy cost. Express sites prioritise township high streets and transit interchanges with strong delivery-radius population, accepting a lower absolute unit volume in exchange for materially lower capital cost and deeper community penetration. A hard rent-to-sales ceiling is applied at underwriting to protect four-wall margin.
NoteRent discipline is a covenant on the business, not just the lease
Occupancy cost is fixed and permanent; a store signed at too high a rent-to-sales ratio carries a structural margin penalty for the life of the lease. The plan treats the rent-to-sales ceiling as an underwriting gate: sites that breach it are declined regardless of other merits. This single discipline protects more four-wall margin over the estate’s life than almost any operational lever.
Staffing model
Each outlet runs on 15–20 employees across shifts, drawn wherever possible from the local community and trained through a company academy. Labour is the largest store operating cost at ~20% of sales at maturity; disciplined scheduling against the POS demand signal is the primary lever for protecting store-level margin during ramp.