A celebration of our top suppliers
The Shoprite Group's annual Supplier of the Year Awards recognise the valuable contribution suppliers make to the Group’s continued success.
Finalists across 12 categories were evaluated on criteria including the extent to which they had contributed towards the retailer’s growth and improved earnings, their stockholding and service levels, the efficiency of their administration processes, and their support at store level.
The 2024 winners in each category are:
- General Merchandise & Furniture: Palm Stationery
- Professional Suppliers: Scania South Africa & Cobus Schoeman Architects (joint winners)
- Fruit & Vegetable Producers: ZZ2
- Fresh Departments: Comessa Food Services
- Alcoholic Beverages: Meridian Wine Merchants
- Groceries: Kellogg's Tolaram
- Snacks & Beverages: Mondelez
- Perishables: McCain Foods
- Personal Care: Amka Products
- SMME: Pasta & Me
- Sustainability: Detpak SA
- Private Label & Supplier Partnerships: Zeta Laboratories
Comessa Food Services and Pasta & Me, were among the standout suppliers at this year's awards.
Husband and wife, Zoegdie and Bilqees Essa – initially just hoping to supply quality snacks to local schools and corporate canteens - began Comessa Food Services as a home-based business producing flavoured popcorn in 2005. They were able to successfully transition from a small business to a nationally recognised supplier that now also supplies the supermarket chain’s Bakery and Simple Truth private label product ranges.
Pasta & Me, a 100% female-owned business founded by Aziza Parker, won the 2024 Small Supplier Award for its innovative approach to food affordability, offering a range of budget-friendly noodle meals that feed a family of four for just R20. This affordable one-pot delight is part of Shoprite’s Homegrown private label range, which showcases products from small, local suppliers.
Back left to right: Rui Andrade (Meridian), Vivek Pattundeen (Palm Stationery), Tommy van Zyl (ZZ2), Mark Erasmus (Scania), Tiff Whitehouse (DetPak) and Bernard Arthur (AMKA) Front left to right: Christel Emmenis (Kellog’s Tolaram), Claire Norris (McCain), Bilqees Essa (Commessa Foods), Pieter Engelbrecht (Shoprite Group CEO), Aziza Parker (Pasta & Me), Nishal Modi (Zeta Labs) and Guillaume du Toit (Cobus Schoeman Architects).
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