Fournos Dunkeld on selling ready made coffee during lockdown: 'We didn't mean to break rules'

Mike Kalogirou, chief executive of the Fournos group, said the group had no intention of violating the rules of the lockdown after they were exposed for selling ready-made coffee, a non-essential item, at their shop in Dunkeld, Johannesburg. 

DA Councillor Tim Truluck on Sunday angered many people when he reported the bakery's operations to the and Gauteng government after he spotted customers having coffee, made on the bakery's premises, without maintaining social distancing.

“It was never our intention to break the law or flout any social-distancing rules. We have learnt from our mistakes and apologise to anyone offended,” Kalogirou told TimesLIVE before disclosing the business was struggling to survive as “90% of its operations are shut”.

The bakery closed before the lockdown but resumed some of its operations to trade essential items. Kalogirou said the bakery had continued to operate and had adjusted its trade to fall in with strict government guidelines.

He said police officers monitor its operations and “come about three times a day.”