Total set to come up Thrupps in Famous Brands venture

IN ONE of the more unlikely partnerships on the local retail landscape, upmarket food grocer Thrupps will be rolled out in Total garages in upper-end metropolitan areas through Famous Brands.

IN ONE of the more unlikely partnerships on the local retail landscape, upmarket food grocer Thrupps will be rolled out in Total garages in upper-end metropolitan areas through Famous Brands.

Thrupps and Famous Brands have been considering how to link up for three years.

Total entered the picture six months ago in search of something more upmarket than its current Bonjour offering for some of its sites.

The new partnership will rival forecourt partnerships such as Engen and Woolworths.

The tie-up provides Famous Brands with an entry into retail, which it has long been after.

Thrupps may not be known to many beyond Johannesburg's affluent northern suburbs, where it is based in Illovo, near Sandton and Rosebank. But it has an unrivalled heritage and dates back to 1892, when Charles Thrupps realised new British emigrants missed their goodies from back home.

Thrupps has continued pretty much on that path and stocks niche products that may be difficult to source elsewhere.

Although home deliveries are no longer in horse-drawn carriages, the Illovo store still delivers to customers as far as Benoni, Krugersdorp, Pretoria and Soweto.

Each Thrupps store at Total garages will comprise a bakery, hot food, pre-prepared and made-to-order foods, as well as fresh flowers and a limited high-end grocery product range.

The first store opens in Senderwood next to St Andrews at the end of October.

Chris Keene, the owner of Thrupps said the move to open in garage forecourts was not diluting the brand.

The Illovo store would remain unchanged, and where Thrupps opened in forecourts store owners and staff would be trained for a particular level of service and product.

The market Thrupps served had evolved. There was a huge demand for convenience foods and pre-prepared product, said Keene. Thrupps had 12 chefs working daily to prepare these meals, plus four confectionary chefs. "We've got a great pantry," he said.

In addition, Thrupps also supplies prepared, hot meals to seven schools - and runs three tuck shops.

Famous Brands chief executive Kevin Hedderwick said that assuming the trial store at Senderwood was a success, there was potential to roll Thrupps out to at least 50 other Total sites. The Bonjour brand will continue at its other sites.

Total South Africa's general manager sales and marketing, Qetello Zeka, said the convenience factor for shoppers in today's busy world had become paramount.

"We are piloting this project and will then identify other sites that complement the Thrupps LSM range so we ensure a perfect fit."

Hedderwick said the decision to select Thrupps as their retail partner in the venture was based on the store's unique positioning as "grocers of distinction", with a history spanning 122 years. In the 1940s, Jan Smuts sent Thrupps food parcels to the Queen of England and Sir Winston Churchill in the aftermath of World War II.