{"id":873273,"date":"2026-09-02T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=873273"},"modified":"2026-09-02T10:48:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T08:48:37","slug":"premium-grocery-store-taking-over-engen-petrol-stations-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/873273\/premium-grocery-store-taking-over-engen-petrol-stations-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Premium grocery store taking over Engen petrol stations in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Woolworths now has over 100 premium Foodstop stores at Engen petrol stations across South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These Woolworths stores started as a small experiment more than two decades ago, and has grown into one of the country\u2019s most successful retail partnerships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woolworths Foodstops can now be found at 101 Engen forecourts, providing motorists with access to ready-made meals, fresh produce, and other premium grocery products while filling up their vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The partnership began in 2000, when Woolworths and Engen launched a pilot project involving two Foodstop stores at petrol stations in Cape Town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concept was designed to test whether customers would support a 24-hour convenience store offering Woolworths products to motorists on the move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following a successful trial, the two companies formally expanded their strategic partnership in 2003.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rollout initially included three stores in Gauteng before expanding to other major commuter routes around the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over time, the Foodstop concept became much more than a small convenience offering for Woolworths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The retailer increasingly viewed petrol station stores as an important way to reach customers outside traditional shopping centres and supermarkets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2015, Woolworths said it was focused on delivering convenience across its different retail formats, adding that it was trading from 62 Engen forecourts after opening seven new locations during the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2016, Woolworths had 68 Foodstop stores at Engen forecourts, rising to 72 in 2017 and 74 in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2021, following the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and changing consumer shopping habits, the number had increased to 81.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woolworths said at the time that it aimed to \u201cdeliver convenience across all formats and channels\u201d, with its Engen stores forming an increasingly important part of this strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The partnership has accelerated further in recent years as Woolworths has invested heavily in convenience shopping and on-demand delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woolies After Dark<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The retailer opened its 100th Engen forecourt store during the 2025 financial year, marking a major milestone for the partnership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis past year alone marked the opening of our 100th forecourt, the launch of \u2018Woolies After Dark\u2019 in partnership with Uber Eats, and the ongoing strong growth of our on-demand offering, Woolies Dash,\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Foodstop network has also become an important part of Woolworths\u2019 digital delivery strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through Woolies After Dark, selected Foodstop locations operate as fulfilment points for late-night deliveries through Uber Eats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The service is now available at more than 70 Foodstops and allows customers to order a curated range of Woolworths products until midnight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woolworths said the service offers customers \u201cthe best of our curated Woolies assortment, conveniently delivered until midnight\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The continued expansion of Foodstops comes as Woolworths Food remains the strongest-performing part of the wider Woolworths Holdings group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the retailer\u2019s latest results for the 52 weeks ended 28 June 2026, Woolworths Food increased revenue to R54.33 billion, compared with R51.47 billion in the previous year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The division generated R3.23 billion in profit before tax and accounted for around 65% of group turnover and 69% of adjusted group EBIT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWoolworths Food remained the stand-out performer in an intensely competitive environment, delivering a consistently strong performance throughout the period,\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It added that \u201cincreased customer footfall and basket size are testament to the enduring trust in our brand, quality, and value\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The table below outlines the steady growth in the number of Woolworths convenience stores operating on Engen forecourts, compiled from individual annual reports and the latest multi-year reviews:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Financial Year<\/th>Engen Forecourt Locations<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
2015<\/strong><\/td>62<\/td><\/tr>
2016<\/strong><\/td>68<\/td><\/tr>
2017<\/strong><\/td>72<\/td><\/tr>
2018<\/strong><\/td>74<\/td><\/tr>
2020<\/strong><\/td>80 <\/td><\/tr>
2021<\/strong><\/td>81<\/td><\/tr>
2022<\/strong><\/td>84<\/td><\/tr>
2023<\/strong><\/td>91<\/td><\/tr>
2024<\/strong><\/td>93<\/td><\/tr>
2025<\/strong><\/td>97 (100th milestone reached during the year<\/em>)<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
2026<\/strong><\/td>101<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Woolworths now has over 100 premium Foodstop stores at Engen petrol stations across South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":873307,"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":"2095074513520128396","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2193653281455071","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18126512050770444","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[9240,853,949],"class_list":["post-873273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-engen","tag-south-africa","tag-woolworths"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873273","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=873273"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":873323,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873273\/revisions\/873323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/873307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}