UAE: Nando’s co-founders reveal secrets behind PERi-PERi chicken, bottled sauce

The backstory of the origin of the multinational restaurant chain, Nando’s, which specialises in flame-grilled PERi-PERi chicken and is celebrating 20 years in the UAE, has assumed mythical proportions across the globe and, at times, is shrouded in mystery.

Questions abound whether it started in the United Kingdom (UK), Portugal, South Africa, or the deepest, darkest PERi-PERi heartlands of Mozambique in southern Africa, which has a strong Portuguese influence.

The origin

Nando’s was started by Robert Brozin and Fernando Duarte in South Africa in 1987. The duo, who became lifelong friends, worked together at Robert’s father’s electronics business, where Fernando and Robert were technical and marketing managers, respectively. Fernando is from Porto, Portugal, and his family had emigrated to South Africa and had spent five years in Mozambique.

In 1987, Fernando took Robert to a chicken restaurant called Chickenland in Rosettenville, Johannesburg. Robert was so impressed with the restaurant’s flame-grilled chicken that he proposed they buy the restaurant. Though the financial odds were stacked against them, they managed to buy the eatery.

The restaurant was then named after Fernando, who is affectionately called Nando by his friends and family. Since inception, Nando's has adopted its mantra of not being just about the chicken. The bird, its staple on the menu, embodies the five core values — pride, passion, courage, integrity and family — that has made the brand grow organically across five continents over the past 35 years.

Celebrating 20 years in the UAE

Fernando and Robert, who were in Dubai last week to celebrate the momentous 20th anniversary of Nando’s in the UAE, were still wide-eyed since their first visit to the country.

“I’ve been coming to Dubai even before the Emirates Airline was launched in October 1985,” said Fernando while reflecting on those tumultuous years back home in South Africa.

Robert, a die-hard South African, put those troubled times in perspective. “South Africa was in the grips of change. It was a difficult time. It was a time where the future was beyond uncertain. And to start a business at that time was almost crazy. And yet we persisted. We started the business with a view that South Africa would come around."

“South Africa is a miracle country because it's got the most unbelievable people. The people of South Africa are just incredible people. And so, when we started, we backed the fact that South Africa would become a democratic country; for every South African, a new South Africa would emerge. The old nation would crumble, and a new South Africa would emerge. Then, Nelson Mandela was released on February 11, 1990. That was a huge moment in world history. Later, we got our new constitution, the most inclusive and liberal in the world,” Robert said.

The global success

Nando’s global success is in no small measure due to the “amazing chemistry” of these two life-long friends, who “are made for each other, where the synergy of a common vision prevailed over commercial considerations”.

The articulate Robert, who complements a reticent Fernando, attributed the “immersive long journey to values that have bound us together for all these years”.

Meeting of great minds

Robert is quick to draw a parallel of the success of the Nando’s brand to the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. “His Highness has a vision of diversity. If you look at the vision of what’s happening in Dubai today, that reflects what was enshrined in our constitution…I’ve always felt a strong similarity between Mandela's vision and that of His Highness.”

He compared the UAE, a melting point of over 200 diverse nationalities, to his native South Africa, a rainbow nation that has 11 official languages. “Like the UAE, we believe everybody is welcome at Nando’s. Dubai has created an almost ideal world, where people from different backgrounds can work together to create a successful business. That was the vision of South Africa of bringing people together to create something better,” he added.

Fernando said the brand’s ethos “resonates particularly well in Dubai even though we first ventured in this region with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)”.

He added, “in retrospect, the KSA taught us lots about the Arabic culture while we were still a young brand. That was the time when we met Suhail (Gidwani), Chairman and CEO, Nando’s UAE. We clicked instantaneously as it was a meeting of minds and Suhail’s vision matched ours and a new relationship was forged.”

ALSO READ:

• SIBF 2022: Best-selling Indian banker-turned-author says there's no right time to write a book

• Dubai-based athlete Dareen Barbar raps inspiring life story in 'Basma'

Robert felt that the brand had arrived when he was at the Heathrow International Airport in London in the early 1990s. “A Customs official asked me at the airport where I was employed? I said Nando’s. And he said to me which Nando's are you working at? I replied that I was working at Hounslow. He appeared rather excited to hear that."

“Our global resonance started in the UK even though we’re yet to expand into continental Europe,” he said.

Fernando jogged his memory to come up with a more homegrown experience. “One of the American diners came to our restaurants in Johannesburg and asked impatiently how long would it take us to serve a grilled chicken? And the Americans said to each other that these guys would never survive because there's no way that a customer would wait 27 minutes for a grilled chicken. I feel it was a huge learning curve and we worked on the time and brought it down significantly,” he said.

Rising up to challenges

Robert chimed at the daunting proposition.

“It's always a good challenge when your opposition says you're going to be out of business,” he said adding, “you never threaten an entrepreneur that you’d be out of business.”

Besides, several sceptics told them not to get into bottled sauces “as that was against the curve those days”. Yet today, Nando’s sauces feature in all major supermarkets where the restaurant brand has a presence.

Nando’s cheeky advertising, a social commentary of sorts and the uncanny ability of South Africans to laugh at themselves despite mounting challenges, has been a standout through the years across all markets.

Robert said, “Our cash crunch made us irreverent, and we tried to grab as many eyeballs as possible. Besides, in those days, there was no social media and only plain vanilla print, broadcast and outdoor advertising. “We needed to be cheeky, and we needed to stand out and we needed to be different. So, we needed the bang for our buck. We were up against our competitors that had big budgets and we needed to be different. It's a big factor in this day and age as well as amid the din. Content is still the king.”

Core competence is the key

Will Nando’s ever introduce fish in its menu?