Thirty-one years is a long time in the restaurant business. Consumer tastes change, margins tighten and new competitors emerge.
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Technology has also transformed the relationship between restaurants and their customers, creating new channels for ordering, delivery, loyalty and engagement.
Yet Ocean Basket continues to grow.
As the South African seafood restaurant brand enters its 31st year, new restaurants and international markets remain on the agenda.
The bigger question, however, is how a mature restaurant franchise continues to build relevance — and a scalable business model — in a rapidly changing market.
For Jonathan Muir, chief marketing officer at Ocean Basket, the answer begins with movement.
“We've never stood still. This business moves at the speed of culture, and the moment you stop moving, you lose relevance.”
Holding the core, changing the model
Ocean Basket's core proposition has remained consistent: accessible seafood, generous portions and a welcoming dining experience.
What has changed is how customers access the brand.
“We've stayed true to who we are while going wherever our customers are going,” says Muir.
That has shifted Ocean Basket from a traditional restaurant model towards a broader omnichannel food business. Customers can dine in, order through digital platforms, collect their meals or have them delivered.
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“The restaurant is still the heart of the brand,” says Muir. “It's just no longer the only door in.”
From a business perspective, this creates more opportunities per site. A restaurant can serve multiple occasions — from a sit-down meal to weekday takeaway and family delivery — rather than relying solely on customers filling tables.
“Multiple channels mean multiple revenue streams per site, which makes each new restaurant a stronger investment,” Muir says.
Competing for more than the restaurant occasion
Consumer pressure remains one of the biggest challenges facing South Africa's restaurant industry. But Muir believes tighter household budgets are changing where consumers spend rather than eliminating demand altogether.
“People don't stop eating out when money is tight. They get more selective about where they spend. That rewards brands that deliver on value.”
For Ocean Basket, value is about expanding the occasions on which seafood can compete.
“Something powerful happens when you get seafood to the right price point, where it starts to rival a supermarket shop or a generic quick-service meal,” says Muir.
“Seafood suddenly competes in the whole food environment, not just in the restaurant category.”
The strategy is to position seafood as an option for more frequent occasions, rather than limiting it to weekend or special-event dining.
At the same time, Ocean Basket continues to introduce limited-time offers to maintain customer interest.
“Familiarity keeps people loyal. Newness keeps them excited,” says Muir.
For a 31-year-old brand, that balance between consistency and innovation is key.
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Franchisees need more than a recognised brand
Ocean Basket's growth remains closely linked to its franchise network, but the role of the franchisor has evolved.
“A franchisee buys into a proven concept, a trusted brand and a full support system: operations, training, marketing, procurement, menu development and customer experience,” says Muir.
Two areas have become particularly important: margin protection and demand generation.
Ocean Basket provides fixed pricing for the duration of menu cycles, helping franchisees manage gross profit margins in an environment of fluctuating costs.
The group also places significant emphasis on generating customer demand.
“The food space is hotly contested and consumers are spoiled for choice, so a franchisee needs more than a good site,” says Muir.
Increasingly, data forms part of that support.
Ocean Basket's digital platforms provide insight into customer behaviour, allowing franchisees to make decisions based on actual demand.
“Our platforms generate incredible customer insight, and we share it, so franchisees are making decisions on real behaviour, not gut feel.”
Scaling beyond South Africa
Ocean Basket now operates across 16 international markets, but Muir says international expansion requires a balance between consistency and local flexibility.
“The product travels. Good seafood, generous portions and a warm welcome work everywhere.”
The business also has an advantage in its specialised supply chain, which Muir says enables the group to source and distribute seafood across markets.
But the same restaurant model cannot simply be copied and pasted into every country.
“What doesn't travel is the assumption that every market wants it the same way.”
Ocean Basket therefore keeps its core proposition consistent while adapting elements such as pricing, menu, service style, channel mix and restaurant format to local conditions.
“The same brand can run a more premium OB flagship in one market and a leaner, faster format in another,” says Muir.
“Be too rigid and you lose the customer. Be too diluted and you lose the brand.”
Before entering a new market, the business focuses on four areas: the right local partner, consumer demand, supply-chain capability and digital infrastructure.
“If any one of those is missing, we wait,” says Muir. “The brand has to be able to show up fully or not at all.”
Data and direct customer relationships
Digital has become central to how Ocean Basket acquires and retains customers.
“Our consumer is digital, living on mobile and social, and we have to be in that world with them,” says Muir.
The group's OB Rewards and OB Direct platforms provide a direct connection with customers while generating first-party data.
Each interaction helps build a clearer picture of customer behaviour, allowing the business to make communication and offers more relevant.
“If we truly understand a customer, we can serve them better in every single interaction.”
For Ocean Basket, data is also becoming an operational asset, supporting decisions around products, promotions and customer experience.
Muir believes this direct relationship will become increasingly important as restaurant brands compete for customer attention and loyalty.
The next generation of restaurant growth
Looking ahead, Muir believes casual dining will increasingly be defined by brands that own more of the customer journey.
“The winners will be product-driven, data-led and present in every channel their customer uses.”
Ocean Basket sees its growth opportunity through three lenses: acquiring more customers through digital channels and loyalty, increasing customer value through personalisation and improving operational efficiency through analytics and automation.
It is a significantly different business environment from the one Ocean Basket entered 31 years ago.
But Muir believes the challenge for an established brand is not to abandon what made it successful in the first place.
Instead, it is to adapt that proposition for a new generation.
“The opportunity is to take what has kept us relevant for 31 years and hand it to the next generation in the form they actually want,” he says.
For Ocean Basket, the next phase of growth will therefore be about more than opening restaurants. It will be about building a business that can meet customers across channels, support franchisees with better information and take a distinctly South African restaurant proposition into new markets.
“That’s how you build a business that lasts another three decades,” says Muir.
