Bootlegger brews up expansion. Plus: SA’s demerit points disaster

Loading player...
This week, Bruce chats with Ricky Ruthenberg, CEO of Bootlegger Coffee Company, about building one of South Africa’s most recognisable coffee chains from a single Sea Point store in 2013 to 116 locations today – with 15 to 20 more planned before year’s end. Ruthenberg unpacks the two-model strategy, the cautious push into Namibia and Africa, and why the coffee revolution in South Africa is still far from over. Meryl Pick of Old Mutual Investment Group makes sense of a complicated week in oil markets, where Brent has been squeezed lower by China stepping back from imports and Russia flooding crude onto the market, while refining margins have hit levels not seen since 2001 – meaning lower oil prices are not yet translating into relief at the pump. And William Brederode, tech and trends journalist at News24, covers Adnoc’s $1 billion acquisition of Shell’s South African fuel station business, the forced labour tariff hearings in the US and what they reveal about South Africa’s compliance gaps, and the chaotic rollout of the AARTO demerit point system for drivers. This podcast is sponsored by Capitec. To catch every episode, click the follow and subscribe buttons on News24's Spotify, Apple, and YouTube podcast channels, or catch up on past episodes here. Editions drop on Thursdays at 17:00. 
9 Jul English South Africa Business · News

Other recent episodes

30% of SA’s electricity is lost or stolen. Blu Label wants to fix that

In this episode, Bruce Whitfield chats to Blu Label Unlimited joint CEO Mark Levy about why the company that started selling SIM cards is now building a R360 million solar plant for Ekurhuleni. With electricity overtaking airtime as the biggest revenue line – and 30% of municipal electricity lost or stolen…
29 Oct 32 min

Is SA still eating out? And the rail sensor thieves won’t touch

In this episode, Famous Brands CEO Darren Hele joins Bruce Whitfield to unpack a tough first half, in which casual dining felt the squeeze while quick service held up. With fuel costs threatening food inflation and interest rates heading higher, Healy explains how Famous Brands is fighting for every customer…
22 Oct 33 min

Petrol heading for R33. Plus: Pantry’s big ambitions and Mo’s Crib

In this episode, Greg Solomon, the new CEO of Pantry by Marble, discusses what it takes to scale a chef-driven luxury food concept without losing its soul. After 15 years of growing McDonald’s SA to 400 locations, Solomon is now applying that discipline to David Higgs’ rapidly expanding premium brand…
15 Oct 37 min

From just R15k to 6 million SA socks. Plus: A storm at Afrimat

Afrimat CEO Andries van Heerden joins Bruce to unpack the group’s toughest six months since listing in 2006. Soaring shipping rates, a stronger rand, a mine reaching the end of its life and ferrochrome smelter shutdowns pushed the market darling into a loss, but he argues the way through is…
8 Oct 35 min

Why Capitec keeps winning. Plus: The Courier Guy's locker revolution

In this episode, Capitec CEO Graham Lee joins Bruce to unpack another extraordinary set of results from South Africa’s most disruptive bank. With 16.5 million digital clients, a cost to income ratio that has dropped to just 36 cents in the rand and business banking growing at over 50%, Capitec…
1 Oct 37 min