Having recently been in transit in Dubai International Airport I was astounded to see that at midnight the busiest restaurant in the terminal was none other than South Africa’s Ocean Basket. I was surprised, that one of my favourite local chains was booming, not only on another continent but in the Middle East of all places. As it turns out, Ocean Basket has not only managed to remain independent in a very competitive market, it has also grown a very strong brand overseas, clinching substantial portions of the market in countries like Cyprus and Greece. Grace Harding, Company Leader at Ocean Basket expands on the company’s latest move, accepting a partnership with an Arabian Entertainment Company securing 10 stores in Saudi Arabia, she also gives insights into the recipe that has made Ocean Basket such a success, how it intends to cope in our tough consumer environment, and exactly where it is headed on the continent. Could Ocean Basket be the next Nando’s? It certainly seems possible with 178 outlets in nine countries and firm plans for growth on the cards. – LF
GUGULETHU MFUPHI:Â From Ocean Basket, Grace, itâs good to have you with us.
GRACE HARDING: Thanks.
GUGULETHU MFUPHI:Â Just to take a look at Saudi Arabia, what made that kind of market attractive to a company like Ocean Basket?
GRACE HARDING: Well, we have very successful stores already in Dubai, and our brand and our offering is certainly suitable to that target audience. We actually got in touch with Fed-Co through the Consulate General, so what is amazing is that without us even being aware of it, our Embassies are doing a lot of great work for us. Weâd certainly find that that kind of target market is perfect for âvalue for moneyâ, generous seafood family sharing, and thatâs how it came about.
ALEC HOGG: Why have you remained independent, Grace? Weâve seen Famous Brands snapping just about everything that had an opportunity. Weâve also seen Taste coming in aggressively and yet, here you are, Ocean Basket, with 178 outlets in nine countries already, going into Saudi as your tenth. How have you managed to do that?
GRACE HARDING: Tenacity and determination. The company is still, obviously owned by the three main shareholders and it is just a decision to grow the business in a way that we are true to our belief, which is to be the most loved seafood brand. We want to do it this way. You never know what the future holds but we certainly are determined, at this stage, to grow on our own and to grow with partners. Our licensees in the outlying countries are incredible partners. They know their territory well. We know our brand well and it is a choice weâve made. It makes us more agile. We are very quick decision makers. We donât have to go through lots of processes and the founders who are still involved in the business, they love it. Itâs their passion.
ALEC HOGG: Do they eat there?
GRACE HARDING: We all eat there. We eat everything there.
ALEC HOGG: And whoâs going to win the July tomorrow?
GRACE HARDING: Oh, goodness, I only know about fish Alec, not horses.
ALEC HOGG: Well, Piere Strydom is riding in the July tomorrow and he is sponsored or was sponsored by Ocean Basket. So I thought youâd make a connection, or was it too long ago?
GRACE HARDING: No, weâve moved our sponsorship strategy along quite a while.
ALEC HOGG: Away from horses?
GRACE HARDING: Yes, they donât swim so well.
ALEC HOGG: But itâs a great story. Itâs a great entrepreneurial story.
GRACE HARDING: Yes, it is.
ALEC HOGG: And the owners?  You said they are still involved. Were they private entrepreneurs who just liked fish?
GRACE HARDING: Yes, well the brand was started by the Lazarides brothers in 1995, just after our 1994 elections, when everyone was running away and being scared, they decided to invest. The business was started with R800 and a belief that, âwell no one is doing seafood at an affordable price.â That was a belief and that belief of âpeople should not get ripped offâ. âLetâs be generous and give them amazing seafood at great valueâ, is what started in 1995. Then it just grew from there. At the time, I think people thought they were crazy because in those days it really was about pizza, burgers, and chicken. If we look at the seafood market now, globally, itâs a huge market, so thatâs how it started and those simple values remained. Theyâve remained in the business, the simplicity of generosity, incredible value, and a touch of madness.
GUGULETHU MFUPHI:Â Perhaps if we fast-forward to now, 2014, where South Africaâs economic fundamentals, are slightly under pressure. Are you seeing evidence of that in your numbers? Are there fewer customers coming to your stores? Are you seeing any change?
GRACE HARDING: It definitely is a different world out there. I think whatâs important though, and what we remind ourselves of everyday is to keep the pillars of your brand the same, but we certainly have to be more agile and adapt to the economy and adapt to the competitive environment. There are American brands entering South Africa now and itâs a different landscape but we believe that the values of Ocean Basket, which were always underpinned by everyday value, so we donât give away free stuff on a Monday and discounts on a Tuesday. That has ensured our success but the customers are under pressure and we have to respond in many different ways, through being much more innovative.
ALEC HOGG: Itâs an interesting concept that you have because you have Fishaways who have come in, Fish & Chips now, this latest one. Would you say they are more down market than Ocean Basket?
GRACE HARDING: Fishaways is certainly, probably the higher LSM target market, take-away brand. We are going into the take-away business. We already have two stores at Middleburg Shell Ultra City. Some of the Fish & ChipsâŚtheir business is more the mass chips and they sell things like Viennaâs, whereas we are very true to just seafood, and so is Fishaways, but I certainly wouldnât call Fishaways down market.
ALEC HOGG: I have to ask you this, Grace. My nephew is a Marine Biologist and he doesnât eat fish because he doesnât like the way fish are caught, and heâs also very strong on what fish can be eaten and what fish canât. How do you approach that?
GRACE HARDING: Well, the work that we are doing, with WWF and SASSI is huge. Just a few months ago, we were in Cape Town and we made a public commitment that by 2017 all of our seafood will be on the âgreen listâ, which is a huge commitment. Weâre the first…
ALEC HOGG: Where are you now?
GRACE HARDING: We have a couple on the âyellow listâ. Every now and then, it also changes, so there are shifts.
GUGULETHU MFUPHI:Â Just on the âyellow and green listâ, which one is grand and which is good?
GRACE HARDING: âGreenâ is good. Green for go, red for no, and yellow for…
ALEC HOGG: Donât eat off the red list.
GUGULETHU MFUPHI:Â Okay, so you are being careful now.
GRACE HARDING: Yes, so weâre the first restaurant chain to make that commitment, to be 100 percent green. We work very closely with SASSI. We actually did just participate in a beach cleanup with them. We are participating with suppliers to build Aqua Culture Farms. Thereâs a lot of work being done, and SASSI and WWF arenât saying, âDonât eat the fish.â They are saying, âLetâs find ways to ensure that there is food in the sea, for everybody in the future.â
ALEC HOGG: So what fish shouldnât you eat today and what fish can you eat?
GRACE HARDING: Well, all the fish that are sold in Ocean Basket you can eat.
ALEC HOGG: Okay.
GRACE HARDING: Things like Kingklip is not as green, whereas a lot of work is still being done, but a lot of the Tunas canât be eaten. A lot of the speciality fishes. A lot of the names I donât even know, but for example in the East, where seafood is huge and in Japan where thereâs lots of sushi, they donât have a lot of the SASSI or WWF consciousness, but the speciality fishes you canât eat but thereâs an app. I donât have my phone with me that you can download and…
ALEC HOGG: Yes, the SASSI app. Weâve got to get it onto Guguâs phone because she didnât know the difference between…sheâs been eating red fish for the last few months.
GUGULETHU MFUPHI:Â No, I havenât.
ALEC HOGG: Of course, you have, well; you are supposed to say, âwell, yes, maybe, Iâm not sureâ.
GRACE HARDING: I mean thereâs a huge commitment. Weâre committed to training all of our waiters. We have over 5000 waiters.
ALEC HOGG: Itâs a nice business model here. You are doing good like Google is doing good. You are South African. It sounds like youâre from the South of Johannesburg.
GRACE HARDING: Iâm a Hillbrow girl.
ALEC HOGG: Because youâre a little bit crazy, great value for money, big helpings, whereas in the North of Johannesburg, the helpings are much smaller and youâre a South African – a proudly South African company.
GRACE HARDING: Very proud.
ALEC HOGG: That is going into the international market and whereto from here?  Where is Ocean Basket going to end up? You say youâve got a very ambitious goal.
GRACE HARDING: Yes, well we have eight stores in Cyprus, and this year we are going to open a store in Greece, so we are starting to enter Europe. We have huge ambitions to go into Amman, Qatar, Kuwait, and Egypt. I mean those States are very, very good for us. We are very successful in areas like that and very welcomed. Weâre about to open a store in Kenya, in August, in Nairobi and thereâs interest in Angola and our Consulates are doing amazing work for us. We didnât even know that they contacted SEDCO in Saudi Arabia but through that connection, there are more doors opening.
ALEC HOGG: Just quickly. Weâve had Nandoâs as a huge success story internationally. Do you think you can emulate them?
GRACE HARDING: I think we can be relevant and successful, out of South Africa, in a way that is suitable to our brand and who we are, definitely.
GUGULETHU MFUPHI:Â Grace, it was such a pleasure having you here. Next time please bring prawns.
GRACE HARDING: Thank you.
GUGULETHU MFUPHI:Â And more âgreenâ fish, if thatâs the word.
GRACE HARDING: Sorry, I didnât bring you lunch.
GUGULETHU MFUPHI:Â That was Grace Harding, the Company Leader at Ocean Basket. Well, on that note, Iâm a little bit hungry now, Alec, but that is where we do leave things.
ALEC HOGG: Itâs Power Lunch. Theyâre supposed to get hungry and thatâs why we donât want to get too aggressive in this program because then it messes up the indigestion. Not just for you and I, but for everybody whoâs watching, but really nice, Ocean Basket. Iâm glad Iâve learnt a little bit more about Ocean Basket and I might in fact, be going to eat there in the future, rather than Fishaways. Kevin Hedderwick, good-bye. Iâm sorry, Kevin.
GUGULETHU MFUPHI:Â Oh, I think youâre going to be getting a call this afternoon, but on that note…
ALEC HOGG: No, heâs got broad shoulders. No problem. I promise you the amount that I spend on Fishaways isnât going to break any banks. Thatâs for sure. It certainly wonât affect the share price but itâs been a pleasure being with you, through this week, and weâll be back again next week, wonât we Gugu?