Caltex service stations and convenience spaces across South Africa will be rebranded in one of the largest undertakings in the oil industry in 3 decades. In the next four years, all of its 850 sites will be overhauled and operate as Astron Energy.
The company introduced consumers to one of its new look and space offerings in Cape Town on Thursday.
Founded in 1911, when it first imported crude oil cargo as the Texas Company, Astron Energy manages the Caltex brand under licence from Chevron. It manufactures and sells petrol, fuels including jet and marine as well as liquefied gas. The rebranding is part of its diversification in a changing market.
“The brand itself will attract that investment but off the back of the solid heritage that we have because we are an integrated company with a refinery and it’s really about executing on that integrated value chain, we believe we can execute better than anybody else given the market that we are in and as such provide the consumer with what they need and I think it’s not only about fuel,” says Astron Energy CEO Thabiet Booley.
Convenience stores and other close-by shopping options will be part of major overhauls in certain areas across the country. Astron says market research showed that there was a gap in the market.
“We discovered that one of the things that we couldn’t just sell fuel we had to move just beyond fuel and make sure that we offer more than just fuel and that is why we spent a lot of time and effort in our fuel and non-fuel offerings. A lot is changed over the past 30 years but even more what has changed is actually the past two years due to covid cause what is happening is people working from home, hybrid, working from home and sometimes in the office and with that hybrid working model consumer preferences, especially shopping behaviours have changed a lot and that has impacted the retail sector and how people shop in convenience retail,” says Astron Energy Head of Marketing, Cambridge Mokonyane.
It says it will roll out its mammoth project over the next four years, adjusting where needed.
“We continue to streamline our presence and our participation strategy where it matters and it makes sense, we will grow our network and suffice to say where people have moved along, to certain areas, we’ll move with the people. So it is in essence driven by the consumer,” says Astron Energy Head of Retail, Tebogo Mekoa.
20 regional teams will be working simultaneously across the country to rebrand forecourts to Astron Energy. It says the rebranding will not affect jobs and will create construction work where needed.
