Description
Nando's is a South African multinational fast casual chain that specialises in Portuguese flame-grilled peri-peri style chicken. Founded in Johannesburg in 1987, Nando's operates over 1,200 outlets in 30 countries. Their logo (also seen as a sort of mascot) depicts the Rooster of Barcelos, one of Portugal's most common symbols.
History
The restaurant was founded in 1987 in Rosettenville, Johannesburg by Portuguese-born Fernando Duarte and South African-born Robert Brozin. Upon visiting a Portuguese-Mozambican takeaway named Chickenland and trying the chicken with peri peri, they bought the restaurant for about 80,000 rand (equivalent to about £25,000 at the time). They renamed the restaurant Nando's after Fernando's firstborn son. By 1989, the restaurant had three outlets in Johannesburg and one in Portugal. Capricorn Ventures International acquired the chain in 1992. In 1996 a former Nando's franchisee founded the Portuguese-Mozambican style grilled-chicken restaurant Galito's which competes with Nando's in multiple markets.
In 2010, Advertising Age magazine named Nando's one of the world's top 30 hottest marketing brands alongside Tata Nano, MTN and Natura. During the same year, the success of Nando's in the U.K. led The Guardian to write that Nando's was a modern restaurant brand that had “changed the face of British fast food.” Nando's 1,000th store worldwide opened in 2012. As of July 2014, the Nando's restaurant group was ultimately owned by South African businessman Dick Enthoven and his family, through the Luxembourg-domiciled company Yellowwoods. Enthoven's son Robby Enthoven, who took over running the restaurants in 1993, was responsible for expanding the Nando's chain in the United Kingdom.
In 2018, American-based recruitment website Indeed named Nando's as the UK's sixth best private sector employer based on millions of employee ratings and reviews.
