Petrol forecourts have become one of South Africa’s fiercest retail battlegrounds. For most, fuel is a commodity, not a brand — yet the petroleum companies must fight for market share. The need to fill up brings the traffic, but retail drives the profit.
The once-basic outlets attached to service stations, often little more than after-hours stockists of milk, bread, cigarettes and snacks, are reinventing themselves as compact retail hubs.
The days of just grabbing a pie and a cold drink are long gone. Across the country, in cities and along rural arteries, service stations are rapidly upgrading. They are partnering with food and café brands, opening fresh bakery counters and barista stations, and offering everything from artisanal snacks to hot meals and loyalty rewards. Many now include parcel lockers, ATMs, upgraded bathrooms, sit-down café zones and nodes for delivery platforms such as Uber Eats and Mr D.
With competition intensifying, trading hours extending and more shopping moving online, forecourts are under pressure to stand out.
In Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, the market is moving towards saturation. And while electric vehicles may seem to be a long-term threat to traditional fuel volumes, they also represent opportunity. Battery-charging stops will create demand for more comfortable, more engaging retail spaces.
International examples hint at what’s coming.
Tesla’s retro-futuristic diner and charging hub in Los Angeles offers classic diner fare with deluxe touches. The Economist describes how a Tesla humanoid robot serves popcorn at an open-air cinema for drivers waiting while their cars charge — in the case of a Model 3, it takes 25 minutes to reach 80%. In the US South, Buc-ee’s, roughly equivalent to Shell Ultra City or Engen One Stop, has turned forecourts into destinations known for fresh pastries, roasted nuts, clean toilets and a wide range of travel snacks. It has 51 locations, 35 of them in Texas.
The Pantry by Marble has become a Joburg icon — a 24-hour supermarket-deli-takeaway hybrid attached to Sasol’s flagship Rosebank station. It sells everything from Lego to flowers to freshly baked goods. Customers stop by on their commute or after clubbing, or if they have a craving for a late-night pizza or ice cream.
Chef David Higgs, who is co-owner of the Marble Hospitality group, says the Pantry sells between 600 and 1,000 meals a day, and sometimes up to 1,000 ice creams. “If there were no petrol station, I don’t think it would be any less popular. The price point is very good, the products are popular, and it sits on a major artery.”
South Africa’s reliance on private vehicles keeps forecourt sales robust for now, and loyalty programmes reinforce that strength. Engen (with the most petrol stations) ties into FNB eBucks; BP links with Pick n Pay Smart Shopper; Shell partners with Discovery Vitality and Capitec.
Coffee brands have become central features: Vida e Caffè partners with Shell and Seattle Coffee Co-FreshStop with Astron Energy (formerly Caltex). Engen has its own Brazmata brand.
Chef David Higgs, who is co-owner of the Marble Hospitality group, says the Pantry sells between 600 and 1,000 meals a day, and sometimes up to 1,000 ice creams
Partnerships with grocery and convenience brands continue to reshape the landscape. Engen aligns with Woolworths Food and WCafe; BP with Pick n Pay Express; Shell with Spar Express; TotalEnergies operates its Café Bonjour; and Shoprite’s OK Express is expanding across TotalEnergies, Puma and Sasol sites. FreshStop, a Food Lover’s Market brand, remains the dominant independent convenience chain.
The upgrades reach beyond the big cities. In Wellington in the Western Cape, a new Astron service station hosts an upmarket OK Urban — the brand’s forecourt flagship — offering everything from convenience and grocery essentials to sushi.
The economics underpinning the phenomenon are stark. In the US, nonfuel categories make up 30%-40% of forecourt sales but account for 60% of gross profit. Fuel still dominates revenue, but margins are razor-thin. South Africa mirrors this trend: fuel sales are declining, while convenience sales are growing.
The rise of FreshStop, launched in 2009, is a case study in scale and strategy. Food Lover’s Market has invested nearly R1bn into the more than 300 stores across Astron Energy’s network. Store sizes range from 50m² kiosks to 450m² full-format outlets.
Leveraging Food Lover’s extensive logistics network, many stores operate 24/7, with 127 Seattle Coffee Co counters. The Oaklands store in Joburg was a top 12 finalist for best “foodvenience” store in the world at the 2025 International Convenience Retail Awards.
FreshStop CEO Joe Boyle says the offering is tailored to neighbourhood demographics, traffic flows and lifestyle patterns. Near nightclubs, for example, the mix might include brands such as Crispy Chicken (deep-fried meals) and Grill to Go (flame-grilled chicken and beef) for those late-night or early-hours snack attacks.
Within the Shoprite Group, OK Express franchise stores are also gaining ground. CEO Pieter Engelbrecht says OK Express performs strongly at forecourts, supported by Shoprite’s supply chain and franchise-friendly model. Shoprite’s Checkers operation, however, will not be introduced to fuel sites due to its cost structures and premium positioning, which don’t fit the forecourt model. There are 128 OK Express forecourt stores, with more planned.
Woolworths is expanding its Foodstop numbers at Engen service stations, with 101 nationwide. At 74 of these, customers can use Uber Eats to order Woolies meals until midnight. New sites in Jeffreys Bay and Polokwane are planned within six months.
KAL Group (formerly Kaap Agri) has become a notable force, operating 75 service stations through its subsidiary PEG Retail Operations and partnering with all major fuel brands, including Engen, TotalEnergies, Astron Energy, Sasol and Shell. PEG runs more than 300 convenience stores tailored to rural, semi-urban and highway consumers. Its decentralised profit-share model has become one of KAL’s fastest-growing segments
Agrimark, KAL’s agri-lifestyle retail brand, operates 76 filling stations and supplies fuel to commercial farmers. KAL service stations host Woolworths, FreshStop, OK Express and QuickShop outlets, as well as KAL’s own brand Expressmark; quick-service restaurants such as Wimpy, Steers, Debonairs Pizza and Hungry Lion; and Mugg & Bean, Vida e Caffè and Ou Meul for coffee and baked products.
Loyalty remains a powerful lever. Partnerships such as those between Clicks ClubCard and Engen, or Discovery Vitality and BP and Shell, drive repeat visits. Astron Energy has received a major boost to customer numbers by partnering with Standard Bank’s UCount programme, notes a report by research company Trade Intelligence.
Across the country, 849 forecourts now host supermarket-branded stores.
According to Trade Intelligence, fuel consumption declined 6.3% during 2024, yet forecourt convenience store numbers have risen 12% over five years.
Independent petrol station owners, who have more autonomy, often become deeply embedded in their communities, stocking niche items — from facecloths for morning runners to padel-court snacks — that keep locals returning.
Andrea Slabber, insights lead at Trade Intelligence, says the pressure to differentiate is rising quickly. Younger shoppers in particular value premium coffee, food-to-go and strong loyalty rewards. She notes the example of a forecourt owner near Mall of Africa who expected the mall to cannibalise his trade. Instead, foot traffic grew: more cars passing by meant more quick-stop, top-up shops.
“The fuel that once defined the forecourt is no longer enough to sustain it,” she says. “Shoppers will pay a premium for convenience but they are also looking out for deals. These combo promotions where there’s a cold drink and a snack are proving to be very popular and that’s definitely a footfall driver.”
The big-picture value proposition is convenience, speed and proximity, all making a virtue of the necessity of filling up with petrol.
