{"id":834875,"date":"2025-08-17T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=834875"},"modified":"2025-08-17T18:22:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T16:22:14","slug":"new-restaurant-trend-could-be-starting-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business-opinion\/834875\/new-restaurant-trend-could-be-starting-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"New restaurant trend could be starting in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A partnership between PRIMI Piatti and Shift Espresso Bar points to a potential new restaurant trend in South Africa, where two brands work under the same roof. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a location in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, two restaurants share a staff body, with employees trained in both brands to ensure maximum efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although some restaurants will share kitchens, it is rare for the front-of-house staff to work for both establishments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0“We\u2019re not just sharing a site; we\u2019ve designed a dual-brand ecosystem where each concept amplifies the other,” said Shift Espresso Bar Executive Director Shaylin Naidoo.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since opening in July 2025, the system has been designed so that PRIMI’s casual dining and Shift’s artisan coffee culture can amplify each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The partnership also addresses a common landlord requirement for extended operating hours, which often don\u2019t suit a single brand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This strategic design also addresses a common landlord requirement for extended operating hours, which often don’t suit a single brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Shift Espresso Bar covers the early trade while PRIMI covers the later trade, ensuring each brand plays to its strength,” said Naidoo.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The margins, trading hours, and consumer cross-over make business sense. This allows owner-operators to drive all-day revenue, reduce operational duplication, and increase return per square metre.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that the dual-brand location presents an opportunity for investors and franchisees who could see the partnership as a \u201cplaybook.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In mid-2024, PRIMI started a significant rebrand, which focused on an \u201curban energy\u201d positioning. The restaurant\u2019s new promise for customers is \u201cInspired by Italy, Made in Africa.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The revitalised brand first launched at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, and the lessons from that launch were leveraged for the new Melrose Arch store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it is primarily based in Cape Town, the Melrose Arch location is the second Shift outlet in Johannesburg, with more to come soon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After selling his family business, Naidoo launched a brokerage specialising in fast food and casual dining. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He then capitalised on the late-2010s coffee wave and joined Shift Espresso Bar, parterning with founders Gabriele and Luigi Vigliotti. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Interestingly, COVID saw significant growth for the Shift brand. At the time, there were many closures in good locations, coupled with a lot of demand,\u201d said Naidoo.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The partnership came after Naidoo met with PRIMI director Gavin Burnard, with the coffee owner having a strong admiration for the Italian brand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strong rise in both style<\/strong>s<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Primi and Shift Espresso Bar’s partnership comes amidst a massive push for expansion for Italian and coffee locales. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, Primi\u2019s competitor Doppio Zero has recently expanded its stores to 30, per its parent company Spur\u2019s latest results.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite operating more as a takeaway spot, Debonairs<\/a> expanded its store base by 27 over the financial year ending 28 February 2025, taking its total to 868 locations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several other local operations have also increased their store footprints in the coffee space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plat\u014d Coffee<\/a> has reached 100 stores across South Africa, hoping to reach 150 by the end of the year. On top of this, the brand is also launching a new academy and releasing the first-ever rewards scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fellow South African player Bootlegger<\/a> also plans to increase its current 78 locations to 200 by 2028. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, the nation\u2019s largest coffee chain, Mugg & Bean<\/a>, has expanded its store base by 36, taking its total network to 322.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new partnership in Melrose Arch points to a potential new trend for restaurants in South Africa. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":834878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[10215,23362,5808,20812,23360,23361],"class_list":["post-834875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-opinion","tag-debonairs","tag-doppio-zerio","tag-mugg-bean","tag-plato","tag-primi-piatti","tag-shift-espresso-bar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=834875"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":835234,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834875\/revisions\/835234"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/834878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=834875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=834875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=834875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}