The concept reflects a broader shift in the quick-service restaurant (QSR) market, where convenience increasingly means more than serving food quickly. For consumers juggling work, commuting, school runs and after-hours activities, the ability to fit a meal around changing schedules can be as important as what is on the menu.
Col’Cacchio Go brings the group’s Italian-inspired offering of pizzas, pastas and salads into a format designed for occasions when customers want a restaurant meal without the time commitment of eating out.
For the business, the model provides another way to reach customers beyond its traditional sit-down restaurants, while retaining the menu identity associated with the brand.
Weekday dinner presents a particular challenge for households managing different schedules, appetites and preferences. Some family members may arrive home at different times, while others need a meal that accommodates a busy evening without requiring additional shopping or preparation.
A menu spanning pizzas, pastas and salads allows Col’Cacchio Go to cater to different preferences within one order, from individual meals to options that can be shared.
Group CEO Etienne Pieterse says the format responds to changes in how people organise their meals and daily routines.
“Families are not necessarily sitting down at the same time, wanting the same thing or planning dinner hours in advance anymore,” says Pieterse. “Our job is to understand those shifts and find ways to make Col’Cacchio fit more naturally into people’s lives, without losing the quality and experience the brand has always stood for.”
The move illustrates how established restaurant brands can adapt their operating formats to accommodate different consumption occasions, rather than relying exclusively on the traditional dine-in experience.
Collection and delivery serve different customer needs. Collection can be incorporated into an existing commute or trip home, while delivery offers an alternative for customers who need to remain at home.
For QSR operators, these channels also create opportunities to serve customers who may not otherwise visit a restaurant on a particular occasion. However, convenience-led formats must still balance accessibility and customer expectations with the costs and operational demands of fulfilling takeaway and delivery orders.
“Convenience is not only about speed,” says Pieterse. “Sometimes it is about removing friction. If dinner can fit around the family rather than the family having to reorganise the evening around dinner, that has real value.”
Col’Cacchio Go therefore positions the brand around a different dining occasion: a restaurant-quality meal at home, without the need to plan an evening around a sit-down visit.
Founded in Cape Town in 1992, Col’Cacchio has built its business around an Italian-inspired menu, with pizza at its core. Col’Cacchio Go adds another format to its restaurant and delivery operations, alongside the group’s fresh and frozen retail pizza range available through selected SPAR and Checkers stores and Nibbly Bits.
The first Go outlet opened in Westlake, Cape Town, in April 2025. According to the group’s directory, the format has since expanded to nine locations, including eight in South Africa and one in Mauritius.
South African outlets are listed in Westlake and at the Old Biscuit Mill in Cape Town; Mackeurtan Avenue and Hillcrest in KwaZulu-Natal; Benmore Gardens, Waterfall and Three Rivers in Gauteng; and Oliver Road in Kimberley. The Mauritius outlet is at Tribeca Mall.
The spread across different locations gives the group a presence in a range of local markets, although the longer-term commercial performance of the format will depend on factors such as customer demand, order volumes, delivery economics and the suitability of individual sites.
The growth opportunity for convenience-led food formats lies in becoming a practical option for everyday occasions, not only an occasional treat. For established restaurant brands, that means finding ways to serve customers whose needs change throughout the week while maintaining a recognisable menu and experience.
Col’Cacchio Go is one response to that challenge, extending the brand into the space between home cooking and traditional restaurant dining.
As consumers continue to balance convenience, choice and household budgets, the test for the format will be whether it can turn that flexibility into repeat business.
For the QSR sector, the broader lesson is that the competition for dinner is not limited to other restaurants. It also includes the convenience of cooking at home, prepared food from retailers and the growing range of takeaway options available to consumers.
