Choppies
Choppies Enterprises Limited is a Botswana multinational supermarket retailer headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. The retailer initially sold only food-based goods and other fast-moving consumer goods. By 2024, Choppies had 161 stores in 4 countries.
Choppies became a listed company on the Botswana Stock Exchange on January 26, 2012, and is a constituent of the BSE Domestic Company Index with an approximate market capitalization of P2.4 billion as of December 20, 2012.
History
Choppies was founded in 1986 with a single store, Wayside Supermarket Limited, in Lobatse by the Chopdat family. A second store was opened in 1993.By 1999, the company operated only two stores. Since then, it has grown to become a dominant player in Botswana’s fast-moving consumer goods industry. The management team includes founding members Mr. Farouk Ismail, the current Deputy Chairman, and Mr. Ramachandaran Ottapathu, the current CEO. Both are major shareholders, each holding 34.2% of the company’s shares. In 2003, the group consolidated its operations under one structure, having previously operated under various franchise names.
Due to its exponential growth since 1999, there was growing demand for Choppies to be listed on the national stock exchange. The management team agreed, and the company was listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange on January 26, 2012. Grant Thornton was appointed to oversee the administration of the initial public offering, which saw 1.2 billion shares listed at BWP 1.15 per share, with 25% offered to the public. The IPO was the largest in the exchange’s history, raising BWP 350 million through the IPO and private placement, and was oversubscribed by up to 400%.
In 2008, Choppies opened its first store in Zeerust, South Africa, marking its expansion into the North West region. A South African distribution centre was launched in Rustenburg in September 2012 to serve the South African stores. In 2014, the group established its first distribution centre in Zimbabwe. The company completed its secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on May 27, 2015. By the end of 2015 Zambian operations began and in early 2016 saw the acquisition of Jwayelani group in Durban, South Africa. Kenyan acquisition of Ulkwala group was also carried out in early 2016. As part of long term growth plan the group opened its first store in Tanzania and Mozambique in 2017.
In 2020, Choppies closed its stores in South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya and Tanzania.
By 2024, Choppies had 161 stores in 4 countries.
Operations
Distribution and supply
Choppies' distribution centres function as a central sourcing for Choppies stores. The company's top 200 products are delivered in bulk to the distribution centres and then distributed from there to the stores. Other products are delivered from the source to the stores directly. Choppies operates two distribution centres in Botswana; one in the International Commerce Park in Gaborone, and the other in Lobatse. A new 10,000m2Welldone Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Choppies Group, is a logistics company that supports the day-to-day operations of the stores.