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Taking the 'fast' out of Zim's fast foods
Tawanda Jonas, Moneyweb
August 08, 2007

http://www.moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page662?oid=152823&sn=Blog%20detail%20back%20button

HARARE - It is lunch hour in Zimbabwe. There is hurried activity as people rush to find something to eat. Only a select few well-off customers used to visit fast food outlets such as Nandos, Chicken Inn and Steers, but these days the queues for takeaways twist along pavements.

"Our customers were usually the upmarket youths and those young executives who, in an economy like Zimbabwe's, have a few extra dollars to spend," says Bernadette Mangwiro, a supervisor at a Steers outlet. But over the past month, during which a senior Nandos manager has been arrested, the "fast" has simply been taken out of Zimbabwe's fast foods.

At a Chicken Inn outlet along Leopold Takawira Street in central Harare, a queue snakes for almost 20 metres as people try to buy the now-reduced "two piecer" (two pieces of chicken and chips) ... if there's any left.

A two piecer costs Z$215 000 at a Chicken Inn outlet while at a Nandos outlet it costs Z$365 000. Using the thriving parallel market rate, this equates to about R1 and R1,40, respectively.

Fast food operators complain that the government directive to halve prices has left their operations "in the red, battling to remain operational". Should the fast food operators close shop, then President Robert Mugabe's government seems ready to nationalise the companies. Plans to this effect have been made public in recent weeks.

"We have no option but to continue operating, hoping that the political situation here will come out right and then we will be able to do business again," bemoans an executive with one of the country's leading fast food operators.

Before the price slashes, which have destroyed several businesses, Zimbabweans could easily find their favourite dishes at fast food outlets. Nowadays one has to be prepared to endure waits of a few hours to at least get some take away Sadza (cooked grain), Kapenta, soya beans or vegetables (if you are lucky enough).

"I have been waiting for my order for the past 50 minutes but I have to wait because my little daughter is now tired of eating vegetables. At her age she does not understand why our diet has suddenly changed," says Fiona Kashoti, who awaits her order at a Nandos outlet in Harare.

Supermarkets - which used to sell fast food - are no longer receiving meat deliveries from abattoirs. The roaring refrigerators that used to stock meat are silent and bare.

Abattoirs have stopped slaughtering beef because farmers cannot afford to sell livestock at government-determined prices. Chicken, pork and other meat products have disappeared from retail outlets. Executives at leading suppliers such as Colcom, Crest Breeders and Irvines have been arrested.

"It's not that the prices are cheap or that I can afford it, but it's for convenience sake. Although meat trickles into the shops, it's difficult for working people to find it because of soaring demand," explains one consumer.

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