In an intensely competitive marketplace, with razor-thin profit margins and the added complication of substantially higher import prices , Pick 'n Pay managed to produce another exceptional set of results for the year to February 2003 .
It's clear that the company is going to use its accumulated firepower over the next two years or so to pump top-line volumes at the expense of margin. And this applies not only in SA but also in Australia, where recently acquired Franklins will give the local Australian retailers a run for their money.
It's also evident that Pick 'n Pay is rapidly assuming the mantle of SA's national food retailer. Until fairly recently, it was still perceived as being largely the preserve of the wealthier segment of the population. This is no longer the case.
It's the sheer audacity of the group that makes it a natural winner. CEO Sean Summers is coming of age in this family-owned concern. No doubt he hopes to realise chairman Raymond Ackerman's "big hairy audacious goal" of re-establishing the group as the clear leader in food retailing in SA and also to make a big statement in Australia.
Since Pick 'n Pay was booted out of Australia in the mid-1980s by government and unions, it has been looking for other areas in which to expand. The Australian exit was a bitter pill to swallow, as Pick 'n Pay had the large local competitors reeling with its original store in Brisbane. They were no match for the SA company's retail experience and technology.
