Tsogo Sun launches new coffee shop brand

The group is expanding on its leading brands, with a significant investment in a selection of new food and beverage brands that will be implemented in selected venues within the group's gaming, entertainment and hotels portfolio, taking it into the competitive retail coffee shop sector, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner in a pleasant, striking and tactile environment.

"The V&V brand has been designed to easily make the transition from breakfast to lunch and dinner, enabling people to return to the restaurant without feeling as if they'd eaten there twice in one day," explains Louise Sevel, group brand manager, Tsogo Sun.

"Even though the brand has tremendous potential, it will not be forced in a location where it doesn't fit as the group takes its brands and its food and beverage offering very seriously. We have 85 restaurant brands across the group - and establishing our own brands, in preference to partnering with established brands, will substantially strengthen and provide a greater level of control to our food and beverage offering."

At this stage V&V restaurants have been opened in the Southern Sun Elangeni & Maharani Hotel, in Southern Sun Pietermaritzburg located in the Golden Horse Casino complex, and a smaller version, Café Vigour, at SunCoast Casino in Durban. Two more will be rolling out this year - at Gold Reef City in Johannesburg and at Silverstar Casino on the West Rand.

Interior mood design

Sevel says that developing the V&V mood brand was an exciting process for the team that includes Dieselbrook Brand Consultants. "From the conceptualisation stage through building the brand to the interior design team, who made the brand come to life, the brand has stretched us in terms of creativity and we are proud of what we have achieved to date," says Sevel. "The brand starts by taking the expectations and preferences of South Africans into account at every stage. We took inspiration from our local clientele and made V&V warm and inviting, in keeping with the South African way. We kept spaces open and limited the need to queue, as South Africans generally do not like queuing.

"We looked at internationally-acceptable industry trends and came up with a brand that is, in essence, light-hearted, attractive and comfortable. It is also an accessible brand across different age and income groups, and across business and leisure needs. Colours are black and white with accents of red throughout, and the décor is appealing and warm, featuring tactile touches like the floor-to-ceiling abacus in some of the venues for people to play with as added entertainment and the eye-catching carved wooden ceiling panel in the Pietermaritzburg restaurant.

"It is a place designed to linger in. At the same time, the brand is not cookie-cutter throughout all the venues and each will feature their own individual interpretations, while retaining the overall quality and look and feel.

Over-branding is key. The clean logo "allows the environment to be the hero and features throughout the restaurant, on croissant baskets, serviettes, on the wall, and in the décor, displaying the group's commitment to the brand." The waitrons are dressed in neat black clothing, aprons and designer sneakers.

"We are pleased with the way this new brand has already been accepted at this early stage and see a promising future for it in a range of venues throughout the country. At the same time, we will be rolling out brands to suit different food and beverage concepts such as pubs, buffet-style dining and fine dining in the near future, taking full ownership of everything related to the brands," she concludes.