Plett grocer scores national accolade

Update

PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Plettenberg Bay is officially home to the best Spar in the country after Beacon Isle KwikSpar was honoured with the national Store of the Year award during the grocery chain's annual award ceremony last week.

This feather in the store's cap was celebrated with great fanfare last Friday when staff literally rolled out the red carpet for store owner Duncan Brown upon his return.

But for Brown, this award would not have been possible without the team behind him – some of whom have been with him for more than a decade.

"One of the factors that played a role in us winning this award is my staff who are very customer-focused and really love their work," he said.

Brown said he loves nothing more than watching his staff grow. "I have managers who started as packers and chefs who were cleaners and supervisors who were out-and-out junkies. To see them grow is the ultimate reward for me."

Brown said to have been surprised by his staff last week and to see them all happy, was the greatest gift he could have received. "I really do love them all dearly."

One of the factors Brown ascribes the store's success to is that because he is "a little OCD" he insists on the shop always being clean and having "straight lines". "I never sell any food I haven't cooked myself and tested extensively, and once I'm happy I train the staff to do it and I move onto the next thing. For instance, it took me two years to perfect the hamburger patty and boerewors we sell at the burger kiosk and this has paid back handsomely over the last few years," Brown said.

"The coffee and baristas took me over a year to find and to get the right flavour profile – it's much more than just the bean – I went on a barista course and installed a machine at home so I could perfect it and make sure we offered the same coffee every day."

One of Brown's baristas, Soul, has won the Best Barista of the Year award twice during the chain's regional competition.

Another surprise response to the award, Brown said, came in the form of his clientele. "What has been really amazing, and not expected, is the reaction from our customers. They have been so supportive and I have had hundreds of messages and calls from people in Plett."

Brown bought the store in 2004 and has won the regional Store of the Year award three times since. "I am also bowled over by the support the locals give to me and I realised a long time ago that the more I give the more I get back.

"This has never been more true than in Plett."

Duncan Brown was welcomed back with great fanfare by staff after the Beacon Isle KwikSpar won the national Store of the Year award during the grocery chain's annual competition. Photo: Martin Hurwitz

Beacon Isle KwikSpar staff were ecstatic after the store won the national Store of the Year award during the grocery chain's annual competition ceremony. Photo: Martin Hurwitz

Lente and Duncan Brown were welcomed back with great fanfare by staff after the Beacon Isle KwikSpar won the national Store of the Year award during the grocery chain's annual competition. Photo: Martin Hurwitz