Sometimes all it takes is a little grocery shopping to make a dream come true — just ask Melissa Thomas.
The Clarendon Girls’ Primary teacher from Amalinda didn’t just stock up on festive treats this season, she walked … well, drove away with a brand-new white Nissan Navara double-cab fitted with stylish alloy wheels, a high-end interior, and worth more than R400,000 — all from spending just over R200.
“This is a dream come true,” Melissa told GO! during the handover ceremony at OK Foods Cambridge’s store on Friday.
“I still can’t believe it. At first, I thought it was a prank, but when I went to see the car, it really hit me – we had actually won!”
The timing couldn’t have been better as she and her husband were planning to buy a bigger family car this year to ferry their two young daughters around in.
“This vehicle will make our lives so much easier because we have a smaller car. And we have to rely on my mother-in-law to transport the girls.
“We’re going on a holiday soon!” Melissa said.
Thanks to OK Foods’ simple “shop and swipe” campaign, the busy mom’s everyday grocery shop suddenly turned into a life-changing prize.
No long forms, no tricky entries, just pick your products, swipe your Count On! card, and cross your fingers.
Melissa’s husband, Sean, could not believe they had won the double-cab.
“This year I was planning to buy my wife a bigger vehicle, but this was way beyond our expectations.
“I had to triple-check that we weren’t being scammed.
“Then it sunk in, we really won a Navara!” he said.
Sean said it was a gift of a lifetime from OK Foods.
“It’s a dream come true and as a family we’re really thankful to OK Foods, we are going to continue shopping at their store,” he said.
OK Foods Cambridge branch manager Craig Smith said the OK franchise partnered with a number of suppliers, all offering participating products.
Customers who purchased any of these items and swiped their OK Loyalty Card were automatically entered into the competition.
Smith said campaigns such as these had wide-ranging benefits, including keeping money circulating within the local economy, boosting foot traffic for nearby businesses and creating excitement that encouraged shoppers to support local stores.
For the Thomas family, what started as a routine supermarket trip became an unforgettable story of luck, timing, and a little bit of everyday magic.
Proof that sometimes even the simplest things such as buying groceries can deliver the most extraordinary surprises.
Melissa and Sean agree on one thing: OK Foods isn’t just a place to shop; it’s a place where dreams, and apparently new cars, really can come true.
