According to a Bizcommunity release, Nawty Water is using its recent listing with Pick n Pay to take the brand from a provincial presence in KwaZulu-Natal to a national footprint of more than 1,000 outlets.
The company says the Pick n Pay listing will give it access to a network that expands its reach from the 560 stores it already occupies to well over 1,000 locations during the summer period. Additional listings with Checkers Liquor and OK Liquor are expected to drive that growth.
Retail strategy and partnership
Founder and CEO Tones explained that the brand deliberately rolled out slowly at first, learning from retailers about what works and what does not. He said the early stores were treated as a test that set the standard for the national rollout, “we cut no corners”, and that the same level of service is now being applied in larger chains.
Key to the execution is a partnership with Smollan, which began in May. Smollan provides field-sales expertise that helps Nawty Water secure floor-standing units (FSUs), display units placed on the store floor, and maintain a visible presence on the shelf.
The brand’s growth has been driven by a “community first, brand protected, sales follow” philosophy. Rather than relying on performance-marketing metrics such as clicks or conversions, Nawty Water invests in people and face-to-face experiences. The company runs 30 to 40 events and activations each month, a strategy that began with its first hire, an events and community manager named Christie.
Retail expansion also solves a distribution mismatch that emerged when marketing generated demand beyond KwaZulu-Natal while the product was only available in that province. Tones said consumers were repeatedly told, “we will be there soon,” a frustration the national listings are designed to end.
While the brand’s retail presence has grown nearly tenfold in the past six months, the company acknowledges that scaling up brings new pressures. Larger retailers bring stricter commercial terms and higher expectations for shelf-space performance. Nawty Water says it continues to assess each opportunity against its positioning, only moving forward when the fit is right.
For small-business owners and emerging consumer brands, the story illustrates how a measured rollout, strong retailer relationships and a focus on community engagement can pave the way for national distribution without the massive ad spend of established players.
Read more about similar SME growth stories in our SME & Entrepreneurship coverage.
During the first year of operation Nawty Water grew from a single province presence to a network that will soon cover more than 1,000 stores, a jump that reflects the brand’s deliberate pacing, according to Tones, who said the early rollout “was a learning-first approach”. The company’s initial footprint of 20 stores set the template for the larger rollout, with the same standards applied to each new location. By treating each retailer as a community partner rather than a simple sales channel, the brand has been able to secure floor-standing units and maintain a consistent shelf presence as it expands beyond KwaZulu-Natal.
Smollan’s involvement, which began in May, has added field-sales expertise that enables Nawty Water to negotiate placement of floor-standing units and manage in-store displays across the expanding retail base. The partnership has also helped the brand to monitor shelf performance and respond quickly to retailer feedback, a capability that becomes critical when moving from a few dozen outlets to a national network. Tones highlighted that the additional support allows the core team to focus on community events while Smollan handles the logistical side of retail execution.
The brand’s marketing engine now supports 30 to 40 events and activations each month, a volume that sustains consumer engagement despite the limited size of the internal team. Christie, the first hire as events and community manager, continues to coordinate these face-to-face interactions, ensuring that product sampling reaches new shoppers in each of the newly listed stores. This hands-on approach compensates for the lack of large-scale digital ad spend and reinforces the “community first” ethos that underpins the brand’s growth strategy.
When a new retailer signs on, Nawty Water follows a clear assessment process that matches the opportunity against its positioning, a discipline Tones says prevents dilution of the brand’s personality. The company evaluates commercial terms, shelf-space expectations and the retailer’s willingness to host floor-standing units before committing resources. If the criteria are met, the brand moves quickly to install displays and train staff, leveraging the Smollan partnership to accelerate the rollout timeline.
Looking ahead, the summer period will see the brand’s presence swell from the current 560 outlets to well over 1,000, driven by the pending listings with Checkers Liquor and OK Liquor. This phase will require the coordination of supply chain logistics, shelf-space negotiations and continued community-focused events to sustain demand across the broader geography. The next steps involve finalising contracts with the new liquor retailers, scaling production to meet the increased order volumes, and deploying additional field-sales resources to maintain the standards set during the initial rollout.
