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Shoprite, South Africa’s largest private sector employer, is betting on its vast supply chain network to give it a competitive edge in its push to gain market share in the coffee on-the-go market.The group, which employs 174,000 people, on Tuesday announced plans to acquire the more than 400 Vida e Caffè stores in a push to further diversify beyond groceries.The proposed acquisition is one of two deals Shoprite has described as focused acquisitions of “scalable, asset-light businesses” that can use the group’s existing platforms.“Coffee is becoming an enormous market, and we have been in the coffee business, but with multiple brands and partnerships…. This one is to consolidate and, secondly, offer our franchise another opportunity to expand their businesses,” Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht told Business Day.Engelbrecht, who took over the reins at Shoprite from longtime chief Whitey Basson nearly a decade ago, said the group’s supply chain would be one of the biggest advantages the group could bring to Vida.Shoprite already has a network of almost 4,000 stores, meaning the about 400 Vida stores would be added to an established system rather than requiring a separate distribution.“For us to support those 400 additional stores, just adding them to the already 4,000 stores that we distribute to, would actually be much more cost-effective,” Engelbrecht said.Shoprite already buys coffee beans from Vida’s existing supplier, giving the group an existing supply relationship.The retailer has been investing heavily in its supply chain as it continues aggressively expanding its store network. It has 29 distribution centres nationwide and spent R6.8bn on growth and maintenance capital expenditure in the 2026 financial year, with 81% directed towards growing the business.Shoprite plans further supply-chain investment to support 223 new corporate stores in its 2027 financial year. The group is also consolidating shipments from central distribution nodes to more provinces to limit the effect of rising fuel costs on prices.The Vida deal will give Shoprite an established network in the coffee and quick-service restaurant market. The stores will continue operating under the Vida brand, while the franchise model will remain in place.Engelbrecht said Shoprite’s broader move into coffee, pet care, clothing, beauty and financial services was deliberate as the group expands its offering beyond groceries.“It is a very deliberate strategy,” he said.For Vida, that platform includes Shoprite’s distribution network, marketing capabilities, a customer rewards programme boasting more than 30-million members and delivering R18.3bn in annual collective savings to consumers and retail infrastructure.Vida is the country’s largest coffee chain measured by the footprint of standalone coffee shops.Shoprite has not disclosed how much market share it is targeting in coffee or the on-the-go market.Global market growthHowever, the proposed acquisition comes as the global coffee market continues to grow. Fortune Business Insights, a paid market research firm, estimates that the global coffee beans market was worth $52.14bn in 2025 and forecasts it will reach $83.46bn by 2034.The firm estimates South Africa’s coffee bean market was worth about $650m last year and forecasts annual growth of 4.79% until 2034. It identifies the expansion of café culture and demand for speciality and premium coffee as factors supporting growth.Engelbrecht said the Vida transaction and the acquisition of a 51% controlling stake in R&A Cellular together cost about R1bn.The R&A Cellular deal will support Shoprite’s expansion of financial services and value-added products and services across informal and semiformal retailers.The acquisition comes after record annual results by Shoprite, which on Tuesday reported annual sales of R270.8bn in the year ended June, which translates to about R5bn a week.The group’s Checkers brand surpassed R100bn in sales for the first time yet, a growth of nearly R70bn over the past decade.The Shoprite brand chipped in with R121.6bn to the group’s total sales.The popular Sixty60 had another breakout year, with sales of R25.5bn, a surge of 34.7% from the previous year.The group, worth R188bn on the JSE, reported a trading profit of R16.2bn, up 12.2% from the previous year.Shoprite, which has set aside R7.7bn in capital expenditure for the 2027 financial year, added 5,500 new jobs across the group in the year under review, taking the total of new jobs created over the past three financial years to more than 20,000.Business Day
