Established in 1963, SPAR South Africa operates four retail formats. These are SPAR, SPAR Express, KWIKSPAR and SUPERSPAR. South Africa was the first country outside of Europe to join the SPAR organisation. In 2013, a complete revamp of the service departments took place, focusing attention on the level of service instore and the professionalism of staff. SPAR South Africa grants licences to

independent retailers to operate stores under one of the four formats, with almost all of the current store portfolio being independently owned.