ANDO’S – PERI-PREPARED The story of Nando’s begins with the African Bird’s Eye Chilli, also known as “Peri-Peri”, discovered by Mozambicans and adopted by Portuguese explorers. This Peri-Peri flavour inspired Fernando Duarte to invite his friend Robbie Brozin to a Portuguese eatery in the heart of Rosettenville, South Africa in 1987. Together, they set themselves the goal of bringing this flavour to the world. “We’re a flame-grilled peri-peri chicken brand, with Portuguese heritage but also a flavour coming from Mozambican heritage, and we have restaurants trading in 21 different countries,” says Trudi van Niekerk, Chief Executive Officer of Nando’s Licensed Markets & India. Nando’s first restaurant was successful enough that soon the founders opened a second, in Savoy, Johannesburg, swiftly followed by another. Brozin and Duarte’s business strategy operated through a “flying by the seat of their pants” philosophy, taking risks, always aware they could fail at any moment. But even then, the company’s founders always believed Nando’s would be about more than profit. Their slogan in the early days was “have fun and then make money” but always in the right way, giving people opportunities and making a positive impact on their lives. It’s a guiding philosophy present in the company today. “The flame-grilled peri-peri component is our big selling point,” says van Niekerk. “But we also have a light-hearted and humorous irreverent tone that appeals to people. We’ve largely been trendsetters over the years in terms of the fast-casual dining business model. A lot of brands have come into the market since then but we’re still one of the leaders.” Throughout its history, Nando’s has been helped along by one key asset. “Across the Nando’s world we value people as our key asset, with several development programmes in place,” van Niekerk says. “We promote internal recruitment wherever possible and our people can go a long way in the business, based on the number of internal development programs we provide. In the IMEA region, for example, if someone reaches a glass ceiling in their market, we share those skills with other markets. Plenty of people have been successful in transferring to other positions through the Nando’s network.” “I think Nando’s in the future will always be one of the best fast-casual dining restaurants to visit. The brand has been built up in people’s hearts and minds for 33 years now,” Van Niekerk says. “The opportunity for us is to make ourselves available for people with different needs through delivery, whilst giving them as good an experience as if they were dining in our restaurants.” Question 1 The macro-environment consists of forces that give rise to opportunities and pose threats to an enterprise. Using the case study above, perform a macro analysis and assess the factors Nando’s considered before making business decisions regarding their various outlets (research on Nando’s and the SA macro-environment is encouraged).