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Puma Energy enters partnership with Chicken Hut

FAST food outlet, Chicken Hut has entered into a partnership deal with Puma Energy that will see the food outlet open outlets at every Puma service station across the country.

The deal will see more than 20 outlets being opened by end of 2019 and about 3 000 people getting employment across the country.

The food outlet has three branches, two in Harare and one in Kwekwe.

Chicken Hut director, Mr Chawanda Chad, revealed this in an interview on the side-lines of the official opening of the Kwekwe branch on Saturday.

“We have entered a deal with Puma that will see us opening an outlet at every Puma garage in the country if need be. Our goal is to create a place where people can eat good food and bring variety to the food industry,” said Mr Chad.

He said 14 possible sites have so far been identified earmarked for Chicken Hut outlets by mid next year.

“We have already identified about 14 sites across the country that we have earmarked for outlets. The sites are in areas like Bulawayo, Victoria Falls, Zvishavane, Gweru, Chinhoyi, Karoi, Beit-Bridge and Kadoma to name just a few. We aim to open branches across the country as the brand grows,” said Mr Chad.

The company, he said, will also enter into partnership with suppliers who will be assisted with necessary funding to meet required demand through an out growers scheme.

“What we will do in terms of supply is we will identify farmers in every area that we would have opened a branch and we tell them what we require. We offer them financial assistance so that they be able to meet our demand. Already we have engaged a few that we are already working with,” he said.

In Kwekwe, Mr Chad said already the company has employed many workers from the mining town.

“We have already recruited about 20 workers from Kwekwe and we look forward to employing more as the company grows.

“The target is that we employ about 3 000 employees by 2020 and we are on course to do that. We are a brand that likes to empower people through employment,” he said.

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Chicken Hut opens $500 000 Gweru new branch outlet

Speaking during the official opening of the new outlet at Megawatt Shopping Centre on Friday, Chicken Hut spokesperson Miss Tryphina Ndlovu said the new branch created employment for more than 20 people.

“As chicken hut we are glad that we have finally opened our doors in Gweru after injecting close to half a million dollars for this project. It’s a dream come true for us. The project has created employment opportunities for 22 people who are all from Gweru,” she said.

Miss Ndlovu said as part of ploughing back to the community, the company will pay fees for 10 Midlands State University students.

She said the new branch will buy most of its requirements from farmers in the Midlands province in order to promote local farmers.

“We are not only opening an outlet in Gweru but we are also here to provide business opportunities. We will buy all our requirements such as chicken, potatoes, burger patties and rolls from farmers and business people in Gweru and Midlands province. We want to empower and uplift local communities,” she said.

Miss Ndlovu said plans were underway to open more branches across the country before the end of the year.

“This is our fourth outlet including the one in Kwekwe, Avondale and Joina City. By end of year, we will be having a total of 10 branches in the country. We are targeting Victoria Falls, Beitbridge, Marondera, Mutare, Kariba and Bulawayo and all those outlets will be opened at Puma garages as we have an agreement with the service station,” she said.

Through a partnership with CG Msipha Trust Fund, Chicken Hut also donated a wheel chair to a disabled child from Zvishavane.

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Chicken Hut to open more branches across the country

FAST-FOOD chain, Chicken Hut, plans to open five more branches as part of its expansion drive that is targeting major markets across the country.

At the moment the fast-food outlet has two branches in Harare and one each in Kwekwe and Gweru respectively.

It now plans to open branches in Bulawayo, Victoria Falls, Beitbridge, Zvishavane and Masvingo.

The company entered into a partnership deal with fuel supplier, Puma in a deal that will see the fast food outlet opening a shop at every Puma garage.

Head of digital marketing Ms Florence Mudzingwa said they were aiming at opening five more branches across the country with two already at advanced stages. Of the five, three will have food sections and coffee shops.

“Chicken Hut is looking at opening a further five more branches this year starting with Victoria Falls, which is already 80 percent complete.

“The branch will also have a coffee shop, which will cater for the Muslim  community and will be a first in the country,” she said.

Ms Mudzingwa said more branches were earmarked for Bulawayo, Zvishavane, Masvingo, and Beitbridge.

Chicken Hut has embraced technology in its operations and won a digital marketing accolade late last year at an awards ceremony in Bulawayo.

The firm has launched a diaspora food delivery system, which allows diasporans to order food for their relatives and friends at home.

“We have just launched a diaspora food delivery service, which enables people in the diaspora to order food on their WhatsApp platform and within 45 minutes, the food would have been delivered to their loved ones in Zimbabwe where Chicken Hut has a branch,” she said.

Ms Mudzingwa also said they were looking forward to setting up virtual kitchens in some selected places.

“Zimbabwe has a lot of potential and one has to think outside the box and learn and introduce new concepts that are in line with promoting the food industry.

“We are, therefore, thinking of introducing virtual kitchens for some customers who would prefer delivery over sitting in,” she said.

“In fact this one is in motion and we have already started delivering food in most of our branches, but what we are doing is that we are modernising the concept so that it becomes more digital,” she said.

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Chicken Hut Launches WhatsApp-Based Diaspora Food Service

Chicken Hut recently launched a new service allowing people in the diaspora to order food for their friends and relatives back home via WhatsApp.

Customers outside the country can order their food using 6 payment services including Visa and Mastercard by simply following steps outlined on the Chicken Hut website:

Initiate your order by sending a message to the Chicken Hut’s WhatsApp number (+27657067944)

Select your order from the menu

Provide the delivery address, contact name and your email address

Receive payment link via email

After payment is received, the order is processed and delivered

“We have just launched a diaspora food delivery service, which enables people in the diaspora to order food on their WhatsApp platform and within 45 minutes, the food would have been delivered to their loved ones in Zimbabwe where Chicken Hut has a branch”-  Florence Mudzingwa – Chicken Hut Head of Digital Marketing

The service was inspired by companies such as Uber and Airbnb – both huge companies relying on the internet and technology to increase their global reach.

At the time of writing the Food Delivery Service will be available in Harare, Gweru and Kwekwe – the only locations where Chicken Hut is present. Chicken Hut recently announced that they will open more branches in Bulawayo, Victoria Falls, Masvingo and Zvishavane and when these branches open the Food Delivery Service will then be availed to all those cities and towns.

The Food Delivery Service by Chicken Hut seems logical for a number of reasons. Whilst disposable income isn’t easily available for many local households, diasporan family and friends will have enough disposable income to buy meals food for people back home.

For Chicken Hut as a business, this is also a way to avoid the economic chaos at home and earn some valuable foreign currency.

Chicken Hut representatives we spoke to also confirmed that the food company is also working on an application that will debut in the near future.

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Top performers get recognition at ZNCC awards night

The two top awards of ZNCC Businessman and Businesswomen of the Year went to Corporate 24 proprietor and chief executive Dr Mike Joka and Mrs Merissa Sarudzai Kambani of Medical Investments Limited respectively.

Mrs Kambani beat MBCA Bank chief executive Dr Charity Jinya and Mrs Faith Ntabeni Bhebe-Tshulu of Tsha Nabe Lodges (Pvt) Ltd who were first and second runners-up respectively.

Other award winners included Visual Point Creative Group managing director Mr Reg Makuchete, who was Entrepreneur of the Year, and Mr Richard Matengambiri of Rawson Properties, who was the Most Innovative SME of the Year.

In the Best Exporter of the Year awards Zimplats was the best exporter in mining while Size Chunk Resources (Pvt) Ltd was the Most Improved Exporter of the Year.

In manufacturing Hunyani Paper and Packaging was the Best Exporter of the Year while Scottco P/L was the most Improved Exporter of the Year. Zimbabwe Leaf Tobacco (Pvt) Limited was the Best Exporter of the Year in terms of tobacco while Amidol Services (Pvt) Ltd was the Most Improved Exporter of the Year.

In hunting, Chipitani Safari walked away with the Best Exporter Award while Snowview Tours and Safaris was the Most Improved Exporter of the Year. Zimbabwe Flower Exports was the best exporter in the horticulture segment while Flora marketing was the Most Improved Exporter.

CBZ was honoured in the Best Corporate Social Responsibility in the  HIV/Aids category while Sandvik and National Social Security Authority were first and second runners-up respectively.

Speaking soon after receiving his award, Mr Makuchete, who heads a group of companies that specialise in creative media, offering advertising, financial graphic architecture, bulk media buying and express print services, said the award was a fitting recognition of his efforts.

“Winning this award has been a milestone in what I have been trying to achieve as an individual that when you start a business and if you are constant in what you are doing you can definitely achieve good results,” he said.

He said it was rare for someone in the media industry to be bestowed with such a prestigious award. “So this shows that there has been hard work as an individual and great support that has come from the team at Visual Point Group, business partners and having the utmost faith in God,” he said.

Visual Point started formal operations in 2005 from a one-room office with only two employees. Since then it has expanded its human resource base to 25 employees with a clientele base of more than 23 well-established corporate institutes operating in Zimbabwe.

From the time of establishment Visual Point Group’s turnover has grown exponentially thanks to its sound clientele base.

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Chicken Hut not chickening out amidst environment

A bad environment makes business chicken from investing and open new outlets for fear they may be plucked of the little they have and a scorching hot and horrible economy will grill them out of business.

Perhaps it may have been with Chicken Hut. The Portuguese Chicken supremos have for a long time kept in their little hut with no expansion in sight, until now.

“The environment is different and we are seeing a lot of hope in a promising environment so we are expanding our operations,” says the chief operations officer Navhraj S Chauhan.

So with Zimbabwe being open for business, so too is chicken hut opening the doors to their hut and expanding to crow in other places around the capital and beyond.

“We are opening a lot of new outlets here in Harare and in October we will be going into Gweru and also Victoria Falls in a three phase roll-out. We are really excited about our expansion and we plan to send the taste of Chicken Hut around this country,” says Navhraj excitedly.

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ZIM'S EMERGING LPG MARKET

An Interview with Chad Chawanda, Executive Chairman of Original Energy Resources

Zimbabwe is a nation that has bounced back economically following the collapse and eventual demise of the Zimbabwean dollar in 2009. The country is still suffering from widespread unemployment and high poverty rates but there is a need to compliment the nation’s economic resurgence with much needed sources of energy. To gain further insight into the LPG market in Zimbabwe, we spoke to Mr. Chad Chawanda, Executive Chairman at Original Energy Resources.

Chad is a highly motivated individual with over a decade of experience in the import and export industry. He began as an entrepreneur working in coal exports. He eventually started looking into LPG as an alternative clean energy fuel that did not face the same challenges as coal. He is a founding member and majority shareholder of Size Chunk Resources (Pvt) Ltd which has presence in Zimbabwe and South Africa. He is also a shareholder and board member of two other mining companies in Dubai and Zimbabwe. He is experienced in start-ups, strategic planning and business development. He is also currently studying an MBA – ‘Doing Business in Emerging Markets’ with the University of Liverpool.

He told us that his journey has been a long and interesting one. “It was brought about by the passion to provide energy solutions from understanding that there is a huge gap in the market”, he said. He said it was this that led him down the path to LPG. In his work at Original Energy Resources he says, that like most professionals in any industry, his role is to lead, motivate and achieve organisational objectives profitably. He explains that the division under Original Energy Resources that deals with LPG is Alpic Gas. Alpic Gas is an alternative energy related company that does LPG imports and distribution in Zimbabwe. The company owns a gas depot in the capital city of Harare.

LPG In Zimbabwe

We were keen to find out what exactly LPG was being used for. We suspected that, like other African nations LPG was purely for cooking however aside from that Chad also told us that it has some limited use in water geysers for crops. He went on to say that, “There is potential for growth but currently availability is mostly in urban areas and accessible to just a small percentage of the population which is predominantly due to the high initial cost of buying LPG equipment such as cylinders and tanks.”

He told us that the industry in Zimbabwe is dominated by a few companies, namely Zuma, Pioneer, BOC gas and Kensys with majority market share concentrated amongst Zuva, Pioneer and BOC Gas. He said there are smaller players such as Alpic Gas, Gas and Gear, Quality Gases and GP Gases. He said that the smaller players service a niche market where the big players are not completely involved.

We were curious as to the problems associated with market entry with which Chad explained to us that there is a high initial start-up cost, a complicated legal process, numerous fees and stringent policies to overcome. He said that there is also a huge shortage of readily available LPG equipment in Zimbabwe. This combined with a lack of qualified technical human resources, make the equipment that is available that much more expensive to use. He also said that LPG is relatively expensive at $1.50 – $2.00 per kg compared to paraffin which costs only $0.90 per litre. Considering that there are no subsidies currently in place, this is quite a hefty price to pay for those living in rural areas.

Chad believes that there is superior potential for growth in the country and it has been apparent over the past 10 years or so. We asked him what he felt were the motivating factors that were responsible for this growth. He told us that Zimbabwe has had a long history of erratic power supply and expensive electricity and that LPG was a very convenient fuel that could help in this area. He also said that combined with these problems, advancements in LPG technology has attracted new entrants into the industry and that this increased presence has had a positive effect on visibility and awareness of the uses of LPG.