Cape Town – Woolworths has expanded its fast-casual food offering with the opening of a new NOW NOW takeaway restaurant at Somerset Mall in Somerset West.
The outlet officially opened on 10 September as part of the retailer’s broader push into food services and convenience, according to BusinessTech.
The new outlet offers ready-to-eat meals throughout the day, including breakfast buns, egg pots, sourdough toasties, baguettes, soups, salads, warm bowls, burgers and sides. Its menu also includes smoothies and coffee, with options such as plant-based burgers, chicken curry, Korean beef and crispy hake.
Customers can also order from the Somerset Mall outlet through Uber Eats and Mr D.
The Somerset West store is the latest addition to the NOW NOW network, which currently has 10 dedicated mall outlets across South Africa, alongside smaller express modules located inside or near Woolworths Food stores.
Growth opportunity
The expansion comes as Woolworths increasingly looks to food services as a growth opportunity.
According to Daily Investor, Bloomberg reported in March that Woolworths was expanding its food-service offering to include cafés, coffee shops, takeaway restaurants and school tuck shops.
Woolworths CEO Roy Bagattini said there were “a number of new opportunities we are going after” in food services, highlighting the company’s plans to broaden its presence beyond conventional supermarket retail.
The NOW NOW concept was first launched in 2017 as an express takeaway and café format aimed at customers looking for convenient meals while on the move. The first outlet opened on Longmarket Street in Cape Town’s CBD.
The Somerset Mall outlet is expected to create close to 20 local jobs, while Woolworths identified the area as a strategic location because of the concentration of existing customers in Somerset West, HelderbergStuff said.
The latest opening strengthens Woolworths’ push into the growing convenience-food market, with the retailer combining its established food offering with a quicker, restaurant-style format.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
