The fast-food chicken chain taking over petrol stations in South Africa

bp Southern Africa has announced its partnership with Pedros Grilled Chicken to bring the fast food drive-thru experience to select service stations across the country.

It recently launched the first of these outlets at bp Jean Avenue in Centurion, Gauteng, allowing motorists to purchase fresh grilled chicken from within the comfort of their cars.

“We are delighted to welcome Pedros to our network of quick service restaurant partners. This exciting partnership underscores bpSA’s commitment to innovation and customer-centricity,” said Nokwanda Khumalo, GM for Mobility & Convenience at bp Southern Africa.

“Pedros fits in perfectly with our plans to redefine convenience by expanding the range of offerings on our forecourts. In the past few years, we have been deliberate with efforts to provide customers on the move with a greater choice of quality food and coffee, at a convenient network of roadside locations.”

She added that, in recent years, the fuel retailer revitalised its bp Express shop and launched its proprietary bp Rewards loyalty programme in partnership with Pick ‘n Pay, enabling customers to earn cashback rewards by swiping both their bp Rewards and Smart Shopper cards.

Over the coming years, bp plans to add more convenience services at high-visibility sites on major routes and busy intersections nationwide.

Peter Erasmus, Head of New Business at Pedros, likewise said that the partnership not only aligns with share shared values and goals of the brands, but also with customer needs.

Pedros has grown rapidly since it was first launched some six years ago, opening about 180 stores over this period.

With an expansion rate of up to four stores per month, the brand has ambitious plans to continue extending its footprint across Africa, with the bp partnerhsip being but one of the steps towards achieving this target.

A new trend

The tie-up between bp and Pedros is indicative of a new trend in the South African fuel retail sector.

Nedbank’s Karen Keylock recently highlighted that with demand for fuel continuing to shrink, petrol stations will need to adapt their offerings to survive.

Fuel retail sales in South Africa dropped by 7.6% over the past five years, driven by efficiency improvements, regulations to curb emissions, and the rise of electrification and shared mobility.

Due to this phenomenon fuel tax revenue also shrunk, with the taxman reporting a 6.3% decrease in fuel levy collections in the latest financial year at R85.8 billion, versus R91.5 billion the year prior.

Additionally, consumer behaviours are continuously changing, with things such as work from home and online shopping growing in prevalence and impacting fuel sales.

Meanwhile, competition in the lucrative industry increased significantly in recent times, making it tougher and tougher to stay afloat.

Due to the changing fuel retail landscape, Keylock said that fuel forecourts must evolve into “ecosystems” that include fuel, ATMs, quick service restaurants, grocery stores, and more if they want to remain in business.

She pointed out that that the average South African drops by a fuel forecourt 10 times a month, with the vast majority of these visits being to shop at the grocery store, buy coffee or takeaways, or draw money from the ATM.

She added that filling stations in countries like Brazil, Japan, and Thailand have long since realised these consumer patterns and have adapted their offerings accordingly.

For instance, Thailand’s Café Amazon provides a full coffee shop experience, including seating, coffee shop-style food, and co-working spaces.

As a result, it’s grown to become the sixth-largest coffee chain in the world since it was launched by Thailand’s largest state-owned oil and gas company, PTT Public Company Limited, in 2002.