Hot stuff in casual dining for Nando’s co-founder

Nando's co-founder Robbie Brozin stepped down as CEO when he felt the company needed some 'adult supervision'. But he has created a new role for himself, overseeing the family business' philanthropic efforts.

Nando’s co-founder Robbie Brozin says, ‘We look at art as being an integral part of making our chicken taste better. We have a curator. She selects emerging artists’. David Dunn for The National

It’s rare to find Nando’s co-founder Robbie Brozin at a recent UAE restaurant opening.

The South African had previously attended just one in 2002 when Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road welcomed the nation’s first Nando’s. There will be 20 in the country before 2016 ends.

“When we first came here we thought we’d get five,” quipped Mr Brozin, as Dubai Festival City Mall joined the chain’s 1,000-plus outlet “family”.

Nando’s – founded after the entrepreneur and friend of Mr Brozin’s, Fernando Duarte, first clamped taste buds on the Portuguese-spiced poultry in a Johannesburg suburb – turns 30 in 2017. Mr Brozin bought the restaurant, changed the name and specialised in the peri peri chicken.

“Thirty is nothing really. It’s a young brand,” says 56-year-old Mr Brozin. “It took us 15 to ­really get going internationally, build some kind of presence. We had the vision of being global, but you never really think of the journey. You don’t think it is going to be the way that it is today. We always thought we would be global but didn’t realise the extent. You’ve got to pinch yourself now and again.

“It’s been so much part of my life it’s been like another kid to me. Nando’s has been a personality and has grown.”

Nonetheless, Mr Brozin stepped down as chief executive five years ago. While his work-life balance improved, he says his workload actually increased.

Nando’s remains a thriving business with 35,000 employees – “Nandocas” – in 35 countries, but the father-of-three is largely busy indulging philanthropic fallout from his empire.

At Festival City he welcomed commissioned Soweto-inspired street art by Cape Town’s Kilmany-Jo, part of Nando’s Art Initiative which showcases often disadvantaged Southern African artists in Nando’s outlets.

“My role now is wrapping purpose around the business and it’s given me a whole new kind of energy in life,” says Mr Brozin.

“Building the restaurant to a thousand … it got to a point where it outgrew me. I couldn’t do the job any more, to be honest. It’s complicated, bigger business, multiple currency loca­tions.”

Mr Brozin says that meant reinventing himself to “stay relevant within the business” while another chief executive oversaw day-to-day running.

“A lot of companies talk about a social programme,” he says. “We look at art as being an integral part of making our chicken taste better,” he explains.

“We have a curator. She selects emerging artists she believes should be part of the collection.”

Expect more art by 2026. Nando’s UAE chief operating officer Richard Dening-Smitherman anticipates he’ll be operating 35 outlets by then.

“At this point, strategically, we believe we can have 30 in the UAE, comfortably,” says the Briton.

Mr Brozin insists, meanwhile, “nothing fundamental” was changed to make the local population comfortable with Nando’s. The UAE has the largest number of the restaurants in the Middle East.

“We knew the market in the UAE was going to love spicy chicken,” he says. “We put hummus on the menu and olives, non-alcoholic cocktails.

“At the same time you’re part of an international brand. There’s a good visual identity document that allows interpretation. We’re not a cookie-cutter chain, so every one of our restaurants is different, has its own character.

“Each market is allowed to experiment and adapt in some of the local look and feel.”

Mr Brozin reveals that hummus now figures on Nando’s menus elsewhere around the world. That, of course, is not the only reason the “gateway” UAE market remains “very important” to Nando’s, which debuts in Saudi Arabia this month. There are also a handful of outlets in Oman, Kuwait Bahrain and Qatar.

The chain selected Dubai to host its global management meeting in February, when Mr Brozin anticipates colleagues will be “inspired by business lessons of Dubai, some issues that Dubai has faced, the vision of Dubai and what you can create with a vision”.

The former chief executive appears unflustered by Portuguese chicken-inspired rivals.

One – Veri Peri – opened in Riyadh and is launching on Nando’s doorstep in Deira and Motor City. Others, such as Roosters Piri Piri, already have a foothold in the UK.

“Every food brand is a competitor,” adds Mr Brozin defiantly. “We’re our own competitor. We judge ourselves against ourselves a lot. But if we do chicken right and serve it with a smile, there’s no one to touch us.”

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