Retail chain Costcutter has taken a 20 per cent stake in Birmingham-based convenience brand Simply Fresh.
The brand, which is heavily focused on fresh produce, was created in 2009 by retailers Sukhjit and Kash Khera as an alternative for independent retailers wanting to join a symbol group. It currently has 48 members and aims to grow to 60 by the end of 2014.
The Costcutter partnership will enable plans to grow the brand in more than 300 stores in five years.
It was designed to support specific demographic requirements in the Birmingham and Warwickshire area.
“Simply Fresh offers a solution for retailers wanting to put increased focus on providing fresh produce for their customers, and we look forward to supporting the future development of this core proposition,” said Costcutter retail director, Daniel Quest.
“It is clear to see the growth potential for the Simply Fresh brand and its vision reflects ours, so working together on its future development is a natural next step.”
He added: “We are excited about the new partnership and the benefits it can bring for everyone, and are looking forward to working with the Simply Fresh team.
“Kash and Sukhjit are strong brand advocates and entrepreneurs and we look forward to providing them with the full support of Costcutter Supermarkets Group to see how far we can take the Simply Fresh brand, whilst continuing to support all of their existing members.”
Kash Khera, managing director for Simply Fresh, said: “We have been running convenience stores for many years and, when opening a new store, recognised that there was nothing out there to meet the needs of that specific community.
“We decided to look at creating something of our own in order to do that, and the result was the development of Simply Fresh; which we are very proud of.”
Khera said access to Costcutter’s infrastructure will allow growth at a much quicker rate than the business could previously have. “This a very exciting time for Simply Fresh and all of our members and we have a very strong pipeline of new members after recently winning five national industry awards,” he added.
Costcutter Supermarkets Group also owns the Costcutter, Kwiksave and Mace brands.
