Kit Kat Cash and Carry: Retail kings with heart

The retail brand Kit Kat Cash and Carry is one of the leading brands in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry in South Africa.

From humble beginnings at Kit Kat Café in the old Asiatic Bazaar in Marabastad, Pretoria in 1953, the Kit Kat Cash and Carry Group has grown from strength to strength.

Kit Kat Café and Restaurant was a well-established business run by Osman Mohammed, his niece Gigi and her father Osman Gani.

This core business history is important to the chief executive officer, Riaz Gani.

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He quit his studies in 1995 to join the family retail business called Kit Kat Cash and Carry when it had a turnover of R10m.

Today the Kit Kat Cash and Carry Group’s turnover is more than R5b and they are aiming to make this R6b.

“Democracy was good for us. We still had to fight a tough battle after 1994, but it was an interesting journey. In the retail business there is always some excitement,” says Riaz, an alumnus of Harvard Business School.

To him, it is a major achievement that his management team and employees’ attention to customer care turned the Kit Kat Cash and Carry Group into a retail giant.

“Success will always follow if you do things the right way,” believes Riaz.

This year, with the Group’s 30th anniversary, there are 16 Kit Kat Cash and Carry Express outlets across Gauteng and five Kit Kat Cash and Carry stores.

This substantial growth, however, is not the most important achievement to Riaz.

“Our aim is not to maximise profit, but rather to respect our customers and employees and to be a contributing part of the community,” says Riaz.

They achieved this despite the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.

“During the pandemic, we re-engineered the business to have products available online. The world has changed a lot. You need technological savvy to scientifically manage a business like ours,” emphasizes Riaz.

Respect for the needs of employees and customers has been at the core of the Kit Kat Cash and Carry Group’s success.

Riaz believes this value remains the key to the future of the company.

“We need to do what benefits the end consumer. Ask any of our employees what our business is about, and they will tell you ‘we sell product’. It is our company culture to find ways to help people find more value for money,” says Riaz.

One of the new ways Kit Kat Cash and Carry Group is expanding is by introducing a fresh offering of fruit, food and take-away food after surveys showed customers need such one-stop-shopping.

Currently, this fresh offering is at stores in Pretoria West, Mamelodi and Benoni.

Expansion plans are also on the cards for the Kit Kat Cash and Carry Group with 15 new stores soon to be rolled out in Gauteng.

To Riaz, some values will stay the same and these all pertain to people.

“To me, it is about human capital. If you do not have the right people to help customers, you get hurt. If you do have the right people helping our customers, everyone benefits. The edge will always be hard work. Success does not happen by itself along the way.”

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