Business—23 Feb 2026

South African store with lower prices than Checkers and Pick n Pay

Best Before clearance stores, which have grown to eight branches, offer lower prices on food and household products than Pick n Pay, Checkers, and Spar.

Best Before was founded in 2017 by Mark Gordon and Alain Soriano. They are experienced businessmen with a combined 60 years of retail experience.

They noticed the success of global retail chains selling short and past-dated quality food and personal care products at highly discounted prices.

Best Before explains that it specialises in surplus and short-dated food stock that is either near or past its ‘best before’ date.

“Food that has passed its best-before date is safe to eat. However, the flavour and texture may change over time,” the company explained.

“These dates are put on there by the manufacturer, not the Health Department, and it’s all in the words best before.”

The manufacturers say the products will be at their best within those days, but this does not mean that once the date is reached, the goods will be bad afterward.

“Best-before dates are an indicative guide of when the quality of food or drink will start to change. They are unrelated to safety. Food that has passed its best-before date is safe to eat.”

Best Before said it would refund any product bought in its stores should you not be satisfied with their purchase.

They decided to replicate this successful international model in South Africa and launch a Pilot Store in Wendywood, Sandton, to test it locally.

The store was a great success, demonstrating strong demand for lower-priced products amid the country’s economic challenges.

They rapidly grew their presence in Johannesburg, and on the back of this success, they expanded to Pretoria.

They now have stores in Woodmead, Edenvale, Fourways, Northcliff, Krugersdorp, Boksburg, Atterbury Lifestyle Centre, and Centurion Lifestyle Centre.

Best Before’s online shopping expansion

Best Before recently launched nationwide courier delivery. It was previously only available in Gauteng.

The new nationwide courier delivery means that people across South Africa can order Best Before deals with lower prices than other retailers.

Currently, average delivery fees range from R80 to R100, depending on the courier company selected, and delivery can take between two and five working days.

Orders placed online take five working days to prepare, and payment can be made via EFT, SnapScan, Payfast, and all major debit and credit cards.

The retailer can also collect their order from a Best Before store near them by selecting ‘collect from store’ during checkout.

In February 2026, Gordon told BusinessTech that it had recently been onboarded with Uber, with the first trial set to launch in the Fourways area.

If the trial is successful, Best Before will expand its Uber Eats delivery services for its products in more areas.

Gordon said Uber will not charge higher fees on the retailer’s products. The price in the store will be the same as on Uber Eats.

Uber Eats’ delivery fee varies from R6.00 to R20.00, depending on the distance between the outlet and the delivery address, this is excluding additional levies.