Pantry by Marble announced that former McDonald’s South Africa chief executive Greg Solomon will become its chief executive, according to a company statement released on its website.
Solomon spent 15 years leading McDonald’s South Africa, growing the chain to more than 400 outlets and overseeing a workforce of about 15 000 people. The company said his background in scaling a large fast-food operation puts him in a strong position to manage the next phase of growth for the up-market retailer.
Pantry by Marble, launched during the Covid-19 pandemic by chef David Higgs and businessman Gary Kyriacou, blends a chef-inspired eatery with a grocery offering that includes fresh produce, meat, baked goods, coffee and prepared meals. The brand now operates permanent stores in Rosebank, Bassonia and Hazelwood, a pop-up in The Marc, Sandton, and plans new outlets in Fourways (opening October) and a 1 300 square metre standalone store next to the Mall of Africa slated for 2027.
Solomon said the brand’s flagship stores are settled and the focus can shift to building systems, training programmes, supply-chain reliability and standardisation across the central kitchen. He warned that the biggest challenge will be saying no to demand that does not fit the brand’s character and culture.
For other food-service entrepreneurs, the appointment highlights the value of operational discipline when moving from a niche concept to a multi-store chain. Solomon’s experience suggests that strong systems and a clear supply-chain strategy are essential to sustain quality while expanding.
The broader South African premium food-retail market has seen steady growth as consumers seek higher-quality convenience options. However, the sector remains competitive, and success will depend on how quickly Pantry can roll out its infrastructure without compromising the experience that differentiates it.
Details on the financial impact of the expansion, the exact timeline for the new stores and any changes to the ownership structure were not disclosed. The company said it will update stakeholders as plans progress.
Read the full announcement on BusinessTech. For more stories on retail trends, visit the Retail & Consumer section.
Beyond Gauteng
Solomon told BusinessTech the brand’s flagship stores are now settled and the opportunity is to expand beyond Gauteng, where all of Pantry’s current permanent stores sit: Rosebank, Bassonia and Hazelwood, plus a pop-up in The Marc, Sandton. “Pantry is at the right stage for growth and expansion,” he said. “Fast change and scale need discipline, and it has to be added without compromising the brand’s character and culture.” He put the first phase of building the brand as complete: “The brand is established, the offering is consistent, and the experience is distinctive. The focus now shifts to building the systems, infrastructure and operational discipline needed to grow the footprint.”
That is the same discipline problem retailers across the premium end of South African food have had to solve as the market splits, which Vusi Thembekwayo described in our interview on South Africa’s retail divergence between value food winners and fashion losers: a concept that works in one or two flagship stores does not automatically survive the systems, supply chain and training a national rollout demands. Solomon’s own framing of the challenge, saying no to demand that does not fit the brand, is the same discipline question in different words.
Solomon’s McDonald’s background is a specific kind of credential for this move: running 400-plus outlets and 15,000 staff means he has already solved the standardisation problem Pantry is now approaching, just at a far larger scale and in a different category. Whether that experience translates to a chef-led, higher-margin grocery and eatery concept, rather than a fast-food franchise, is the open question his appointment is really testing.
