Caltex petrol stations disappearing across South Africa

 ·20 Jan 2025

Astron Energy is rapidly rebranding Caltex petrol stations across South Africa as part of one of the most ambitious rebrands in history.

The rebrand started two and a half years ago, and Astron Energy unveiled its first new-look petrol station in Brooklyn, Cape Town, on 8 September 2022.

It followed Glencore’s Astron Energy’s acquisition of American giant Chevron’s Southern African assets in 2017.

Glencore is one of the world’s largest globally diversified natural resource companies headquartered in Baar, Switzerland.

The company has strong South African roots. Ivan Glasenberg, the man behind Glencore’s success, was born and raised in South Africa.

Glasenberg attended the University of the Witwatersrand, which would become a training ground for many of Glencore’s commodity traders.

He joined Glencore in 1984 and became chief executive in 2002, a position he held until his retirement in 2021.

‘Mini-Ivan’ Gary Nagle, also a South African and Wits-trained accountant, took over from Glasenberg as Glencore’s chief executive.

Considering its leadership’s strong South African roots, it is not surprising that Glencore became interested in Chevron’s Southern African assets when they became available.

Seven years ago, Glencore bought a majority stake in the assets from the Chevron group in Southern Africa for $970 million.

These assets included manufacturing, retail, and industrial supply businesses in South Africa and Botswana.

Glencore said the assets would provide an attractive downstream opportunity for its oil business.

Since the acquisition, the Swiss company has invested money in South Africa to upgrade and maintain the refinery and expand its petrol station network.

An Astron spokesperson said the company has made significant investments in its Milnerton refinery and extensive retail network.

However, much of the attention has been focused on rebranding the 850 Caltex petrol stations around South Africa.

Caltex service stations rebranded to Astron Energy

Motorists were introduced to the Caltex brand and the Caltex star logo in 1939. It was a joint venture between Standard Oil of California and Texaco.

Caltex had a strong presence in South Africa, with over 850 Caltex service stations across the country.

Since 2018, Astron Energy has operated the Caltex brand under a license agreement with Chevron.

However, in 2021, Astron Energy consolidated its operations under a single brand and announced the rebranding of all Caltex service stations.

It unveiled its first new-look Astron Energy service stations in September 2022 in Brooklyn, Cape Town, followed by others in Limpopo, Amanzimtoti, and eThekweni.

Twenty regional teams across South Africa worked simultaneously to rebrand forecourts to Astron Energy.

Since 2022, the company has accelerated its rebranding, and in November 2024, it announced that it had exceeded the 400 mark.

Astron Energy CEO Thabiet Booley said each rebranded station brings them closer to becoming a brand that South Africans love and proudly call their own.

Farouk Farista, general manager of retail, sales, and marketing at Astron Energy, said rebranding 400 sites has been no small task.

“It’s been a huge, complex project. We have set ambitious targets but always emphasise maintaining the highest safety and quality standards,” he said.

The rollout extended beyond giving the old Caltex petrol stations new, bright colours and a new name.

In May 2024, Astron Energy signed a 10-year partnership extension agreement with FreshStop, one of South Africa’s leading forecourt retail brands.

The deal sees Astron Energy continuing its 15-year journey with FreshStop, part of the Food Lover’s Market group of companies.

330 service stations feature a FreshStop with Seattle Coffee at 126, Crispy Chicken at 154, Grill-to-Go at 102, Fill A Kota at 42, Sausage Saloon at 22, and Manhattan Coffee at 23.

Astron Energy service stations

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