One afternoon back in 1987, Duarte invited his friend Brozin for lunch at a Portuguese-Mozambican takeaway named Chickenland in Rosettenville, Johannesburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Duarte and Brozin met while working at Brozin’s father’s electronics business, where they worked as a technical and marketing manager, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Duarte was born in Porto, Portugal, and had immigrated to South Africa with his family after having spent formative years in Mozambique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brozin was born in Middelburg, South Africa, and largely grew up in Johannesburg\u2014keen to try Portuguese-Mozambican cuisine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peri-peri power<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The name peri-peri comes from the Swahili word for the African bird\u2019s eye chilli \u2013 the pili pili \u2013 which was taken back to Portugal by traders who had been present along the east African coast since the sixteenth century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Portuguese piri piri sauce entered Mozambique with the advent of white settlement, where it was re-adapted by Africans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The peri-peri sauce, made from chilies, lemon, and garlic, marinated and basted chicken sparked Brozin’s interest in the restaurant’s concept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Peri-peri chicken was only really on the menu in South Africa at small Portuguese family-owned businesses and in Mozambique and Angola. However, the two wanted to make it a household staple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Together they purchased a 67% stake in Chickenland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The restaurant was rebranded and then named after Fernando and his son, “Nando”.<\/p>\n\n\n Starting with three restaurants, “we knew nothing about the restaurant business,” said Brozin in an interview with the Harvard Business School.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n “I thought it would just be a [passive] investment for me, that Fernando would actually work in it, and that I would just be an investor,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, there was quite a shift after Brozin fell in love with the business itself. He became excited about driving the brand and became its long-serving CEO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “What I found was that I just loved it. When I was behind the counter \u2013 actually working the counter, I loved the business, I loved everything about it,” said Brozin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Duarte worked within the business, formalising and helping set the foundations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “He didn’t enjoy it as much as I did. So we started another business – being typical entrepreneurs, we started an electronics business about 500 meters from where the first location was, which was a TV and video repair store,” said Brozin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The business was called Circuit City, which was eventually sold, and Duarte jumped back into Nando’s full-time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Duarte and Brozin eventually bought the business from the original owner, who did not share their vision. The two bought him out in 1990, thus taking full ownership of the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “One of the things that we did very early on is that we said Nando\u2019s is going to be a brand: we want to develop it into a brand that people can associate it with\u2014it must have a personality,” said Bronzin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I mean, starting with, say, three, four restaurants against the clutter of, say, KFC and a whole range of other brands as a startup, how do you become noticed? We used humour and a little bit of pushing the edge of a new startup that you could be the naughty child.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nando’s advertisements became known for their witty commentary on current events and social issues, often using humour to make bold statements\u2014a strategy that would define their marketing approach for years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They wanted to make themselves a truly unique South African branding, displaying the country’s art, heritage and culture throughout – which has greatly set them apart.<\/p>\n\n\n Brozin also said that the two sought to make the business \u201cmuch more than about chicken\u201d but also \u201cpride, passion, courage, integrity, family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, they needed to bring investment in to build the brand that they were looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the early 1990s, investor Richard Enthoven, the son of a South African entrepreneur who amassed an insurance fortune with his company Robert Enthoven Insurance Brokers, met with the business owners, who were keen on taking the company global.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After never having tried fast food, Enthoven tucked into the peri-peri chicken and was hooked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the entrepreneurs thinking that the investor wanted to take a majority of the business, Enthoven came in at 30%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “That philosophy of a 30% stake is a very critical part of the story because most investors want control,” said Brozin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “He didn’t want control at all. [Richard] was like \u2013 we want to make a hell of a lot of money was his view. But you’ve got to make more. You’re the operator.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “You are the guy that\u2019s working hard. You’re going to be working there late at night. You’ve got to be worried about the business,” explained Brozin, who said that this taught him a very valuable lesson about how much equity businesspeople should give away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Enthoven has been a passionate part of the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI never buy anything with the view of selling it or to invest in it,\u201d Enthoven said in a 2010 interview with Business Day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI buy it because I enjoy it; because it is important to have it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Enthoven provided private capital and significant business know-how to help grow the business in South Africa and globally. This helped propel him to become a billionaire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By the early 1990s, Nando’s had opened several outlets across South Africa, establishing a loyal customer base drawn not only by the food but also by the brand’s irreverent advertising style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"smidness:](\"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-V4Du4wM_SCI\/VSyiHaStrPI\/AAAAAAAAAN8\/xfFiRIomddc\/s1600\/expanded-smile_01.png\")
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