South Africa’s fast-food giant – and it’s hungry for more
Hungry Lion has come a long way from a small eatery in Stellenbosch to becoming a fast-growing quick-service restaurant across not only South Africa, but the continent.
It opened 50 new stores in 2023 and 100 in 2024 – bringing the store count to 400 across seven African countries, going toe-to-toe with international giants.
According to Eighty20, Hungry Lion was the fifth-most popular fast food outlet in the country in 2024, with over 2 million people eating there over one month.
But this success did not happen overnight, with the story of Hungry Lion tracing back to 1997.
In the 90s, Shoprite Holdings, which was then under the leadership of CEO Whitey Basson, was looking to expand its business offerings.
A venture that it had not dipped its toes in yet was Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs).
It decided to test the waters by opening a small eatery focusing in the Eikestad Mall in the relatively small student town of Stellenbosch in the Western Cape.
Serving “king-sized” fried chicken and more with fresh ingredients, it was an instant hit.
Four more stores were added in the same year, of which two were in Zambia and one in the Eastern Cape.
Adrian Basson, now its CEO, became part of the Hungry Lion story in 2001 and has seen the company come a long way over the past two decades.
He used to work in the technology division of Compaq in London and also formerly as the Chief Digital Officer of Shoprite for a period, key experience to help propel the restaurant to a new level.
“Historically the concept started with access space with Shoprite supermarkets and we put Hungry Lion where we could,” Basson, one of the legendary Whitey Basson, told Business Report.
“In the beginning, we weren’t really building a brand – we purely sold chicken and chips at an affordable price on a somewhat ad-hoc basis,” Basson told Africa Outlook.
However, they eventually found themselves with 100-plus stores, and with the economic challenges that came around in 2008/09, Basson said that they realised that stores without a brand, a story, and an experience would fail to deliver in the long term.
In the early 2010s, Shoprite had been working on making the restaurant into a separate entity.
This included rebranding, refurbishing and rebuilding some of the restaurants.
“It was a case of changing with the times and we invested a lot into the design of our stores, our product quality and consistency, together with the development of the brand itself,” said Basson.
By 2014 it boasted 168 stores in eight southern African countries, including South Africa, Botswana, Angola and Swaziland.
It was then that the company went from a part of the Shoprite Group, to an independent entity with its own distinct brand and character.
According to Shoprite’s annual reports, the group completely disposed of all its interest in Hungry Lion Fast Foods (Pty) Ltd on 1 July 2018.
Basson said that their biggest success in this regard was transitioning from a business-centric to a customer-centric brand.
“There’s no hiding from the fact that there are a lot of challenges in Africa, but retail is a promising sector when it comes to facilitating opportunities, creating employment and generally building a business that can have a widespread impact,” he said.
“When you reach a remote town with an empty plot, the local people don’t often have much. But as we’ve built new stores and helped to launch new shopping centres, we’ve been able to not only witness but also facilitate the construction of new, thriving ecosystems.”
“We’re proud to be a business that contributes to the success of these societies – I guess you could say we’re a capitalist business with a socialist outlook,” said Basson.
Since transitioning, Hungry Lion has reaped the rewards with the business undergoing stratospheric growth over the past few years.
By the end of 2024, Hungry Lion sported 400 stores; with over half in South Africa, followed by Zambia, Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswathini.
In 2023, 50 new stores were opened and 100 in 2024.
They have a plan to open 150 new stores this year and 200 in 2026.
Their short-term target is that by December 2026, they will have 750 stores trading and 15,000 employees.
Today, Hungry Lion leverages AI, automated systems, cloud computing, and live dashboards to enhance efficiency and drive business growth. With a connected workforce, operations are more streamlined.
Basson, with a background in tech, believes in augmenting employees with technology to handle repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus on more human aspects.
He emphasises that technology provides real-time performance data and insights across locations, enabling quick problem resolution and operational transparency. This data visibility promotes accountability.
Unlike most fast food chains, Hungry Lion is unique in Africa for its nearly fully-owned stores, all managed centrally from its Head Office.
Additionally, he said that the company’s network of managers, regularly visiting both head office and regions, ensures best practices are shared and implemented across all stores.
Speaking about what he pits the success to, Basson said that “in many ways, I like to think that our product is an afterthought in what we’re looking to achieve.”
“Yes, serving bigger portions, more chips and more smiles is key to our operations, but it’s just one part of our overriding goal – providing joy to our employees, customers and local communities through food, served with passion.”
He added that one of the most pivotal factors is the recognition that its staff are key to achieving the firm’s ongoing ambitions.
“What we’ve realised is you can either listen to and facilitate these ambitions, or your workers will leave and look for opportunities elsewhere,” said Basson.
With Africa’s population set to double in the next three decades, Basson sees immense opportunities for the South African brand and invites others to invest in the continent’s potential.
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