Prosuma’s new foodservice concept reflects growing popularity of deli counters in African supermarkets

During early July, Ivorian grocery chain Prosuma launched Snack & Go in the Casino 2 Plateau mall in Abidjan. A stand-alone venue selling such fare as sandwiches, pizza slices, soft drinks, and fresh juices, Snack & Go is a hybrid deli/fast-food concept and natural extension of the deli counters and in-store cafés that Prosuma already operates in its Casino Mandarine convenience stores.
The deli concept is proving popular all over Africa, with Willy Kimani, CEO of Naivas, recently telling newspaper Business Daily that they were a major driver of foot traffic in its stores and were popular with both single professionals and families. “Our target market is also the family person, not necessarily bachelors, but the family guys who are so busy that they don’t have time to cook,” he said.
The growing popularity of deli food has also caught the eye of the Kenyan government, which recently revealed plans to extend its 2% tourism tax to cover “all supermarkets offering food and beverages.” Tourism Fund CEO Joseph Cherutoi said that it was aiming to raise between KES50 million and KES75 million (USD486,000-USD729,000) annually, which implies that it estimates that the annual value of this market is between USD24 million and USD36 million. However, an analysis conducted by Sagaci Research suggests that the government is significantly underestimating the size of this market.