{"id":870574,"date":"2026-08-17T17:08:39","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T15:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=870574"},"modified":"2026-08-17T17:10:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T15:10:58","slug":"son-of-a-south-african-billionaire-who-bought-a-fast-food-brand-from-his-dads-company-and-made-it-huge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/870574\/son-of-a-south-african-billionaire-who-bought-a-fast-food-brand-from-his-dads-company-and-made-it-huge\/","title":{"rendered":"Son of a South African billionaire who bought a fast-food brand from his dad’s company and made it big"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Adrian Basson is credited with turning Hungry Lion from a small fast-food operation within Shoprite to one of Africa\u2019s larger fried-chicken chains, with more than 500 stores across nine countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basson is the eldest son of James Wellwood \u201cWhitey\u201d Basson, the businessman who built Shoprite from a company worth about R1 million into Africa\u2019s largest retailer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raised in the Western Cape, Adrian Basson attended D.F. Malan High School in 1990 and 1991 before moving to Paul Roos Gymnasium in 1992.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He matriculated in 1994 and went on to study accounting at Stellenbosch University, graduating with a B.Acc degree in 2000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He joined the Shoprite Group in 2001 as general manager of Hungry Lion, taking responsibility for a business that was still a relatively small operation within the supermarket group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the following years, Basson helped transform the brand into a standalone quick-service restaurant business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2011, Shoprite reports described Hungry Lion as having \u201cmodern, well-designed stores with ample seating and an inescapable focus on fried chicken\u201d. The chain began competing directly with established international fast-food brands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basson\u2019s relationship with the business changed in the mid-2000s when he acquired an equity stake directly from Shoprite, at a time when his father was still the retailer\u2019s chief executive and driving force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shoprite\u2019s 2005 integrated report stated that \u201cduring the previous financial year, the Group sold 50% of its interest in Hungry Lion to a family member of Mr JW Basson\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The transaction was initially valued at R24 million, but the final purchase price was reduced to R22 million due to delays in meeting certain conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shoprite subsequently operated Hungry Lion as a joint venture, with the group retaining a 50% interest while the remaining half was indirectly held by Adrian Basson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The arrangement lasted for more than a decade. In January 2015, Basson moved from his position as Hungry Lion general manager to become Shoprite\u2019s chief digital officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A massive success<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The next major change came in 2018, when Shoprite exited the fast-food business altogether. On 1 July that year, the retailer disposed of its remaining interest in Hungry Lion Fast Foods, which operated in South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shoprite\u2019s annual report recorded that \u201cthe 204 Hungry Lion outlets include 151 which were sold on 1 July 2018 when the Group disposed of its interest in Hungry Lion Fast Foods (Pty) Ltd\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sale formed part of Shoprite\u2019s broader strategy to concentrate its resources on its core supermarket operations and exit businesses outside its main focus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With full control of Hungry Lion, Basson continued expanding the chain across Africa. He described his business in simple terms, saying he \u201ccreates jobs in Africa by selling chickens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, Hungry Lion CEO Adrian Basson promised that his fast food empire would open 100 stores a year in Africa for the foreseeable future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basson was wrong. Hungry Lion would achieve a run-rate of 250 stores a year within the next two years and aim to cross 750 stores in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standard Bank Business and Commercial Banking CEO Bill Blackie recalled the prediction at the bank\u2019s Africa Unlocked Conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTwo years ago at this conference, Adrian Basson from Hungry Lion spoke about his ambition of opening 100 stores a year in Africa,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday, that mission has turned into a new reality. Hungry Lion has opened more than 500 stores across nine countries, employing 10,000 people.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that Hungry Lion planned to open 250 stores during the year, which would take the chain to 750 outlets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur focus this year speaks to growth shaped in African enterprises with African capital and with African conviction,\u201d Blackie said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat effort compounds across sectors, across borders, and across generations. The businesses in this room are evidence of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hungry Lion\u2019s 500th store <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Hungry Lion’s store revamp<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adrian Basson is credited with turning Hungry Lion from a small fast-food operation within Shoprite to one of Africa\u2019s larger fried-chicken chains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":870602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2089368917873435004","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2178950462925353","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18375604747229751","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[21380,21379,7520],"class_list":["post-870574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-adrian-basson","tag-hungry-lion","tag-shoprite"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870574","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\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870574"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":870613,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870574\/revisions\/870613"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}