Health conscious consumers are increasingly turning to supermarkets and local convenience stores to meet their day-to-day health needs. Tapping into this growing market is the pioneering new concept, SPAR Natural, which breaks new ground in the area of Health & Wellness, offering a holistic approach to customers seeking better healthcare.

SPAR Natural provides health and wellness solutions for three specific customer needs: those who have special dietary requirements or food intolerances, those who have made lifestyle choices and changed their eating habits, such as vegetarians or vegans, and those who simply wish to eat more healthily.

First launched on the island of Gran Canaria in 2017 as a stand-alone store, more and more SPAR Partners across our network are starting to implement the concept instore as a shop-in-shop category solution, recognising the opportunity that SPAR Natural offers.

Following in the steps of countries like Italy, Oman and India, SPAR South Africa has now also started rolling out the concept across its store network, with SPAR Natural currently available in six regions and 30 stores nationwide. The SPAR Partner chose to adopt the concept due to the growing health and wellness trend in the country, with an increasing number of consumers seeking alternatives for their specialised health needs.

Store roll-out began in June 2018 and feedback from the retailers to date has been extremely positive with customers expressing enthusiasm in the product offering, concept design and messaging, which utilises natural materials, colours and instore signage with a motivational tone that compliments SPAR’s brand proposition.

“Health and Wellness has become an everyday occurrence in South Africa with a growing number of people trying to educate themselves on how to eat and live healthier lives,” said Riccardo Afeltra of Athol SPAR in Johannesburg, one of the first retailers to launch the concept.

“SPAR Natural has given us the opportunity to create a new category, give the customers what they want and support many small South African entrepreneurs to bring their health products into the supermarket retail area from within a sea of multi-national suppliers.”

According to the SPAR retailers in South Africa, SPAR Natural has had a significant impact on sales and performance, making up 4.5% of sales in the case of Athol SPAR.

Customers can now shop within the category with ease, finding niche products that they could previously only find in specialised health stores and pharmacies. The SPAR distribution network is constantly growing the product range and retailers regularly ask customers for feedback on which products they like best and which additional products they’d like to find instore.

SPAR International is delighted to see and support partners bringing this original concept into their markets and we are confident that there will be further roll out throughout 2019.

Source: SPAR South Africa 

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About SPAR South Africa

SPAR South Africa was established in 1963 and operates four retail formats: SPAR, SPAR Express (operated in conjunction with Shell as a petrol forecourt store), KWIKSPAR (which focuses on convenience in city centres and high footfall locations) and SUPERSPAR (similar to the European EUROSPAR Supermarket in offer and size).

South Africa was the first country outside of Europe to join the SPAR organisation and continues to grow; granting licences to independent retailers to operate stores under one of the four formats, with almost all of the current store portfolio being independently owned.