COVID-19 continues to leave behind a trail of disruption as industry after industry has been forced to adapt to a new way of working in the face of the national lockdown. It’s no secret that the restaurant industry has faced dire challenges in order to keep food on the table. While some have had to turn off the stoves and close their doors, others have found innovative ways of operating in a shifting landscape.

While Nando’s remains the home of South Africa’s flame-grilled PERi-PERi chicken, the restaurant chain has also turned towards the needs of corporates in the age of home offices and scattered workforces.

Head of partner and strategic marketing at Nando’s, Jaegar Torrente, says, “Traditionally, many corporates have a wellness programme and subsidise meals for their employees through a canteen on site. As entire workforces now work from home, many employees are no longer receiving these benefits. This has made employers look at other ways to fulfil this need. That’s where we come in.”

For a few years now Nando’s has supplied vouchers to companies who use them as part of an employment benefit program, loyalty programmes as well as value added services such as call centre incentives. Most recently if you’re a Discovery Business Insurance client or you participate in the Avis SafeDrive program, you get rewarded with Nando’s offers by unlocking behavioural-based rewards for good driving.. Companies and large institutions are now able to work with Nando’s to subsidise delicious Nando’s meals for their employees on their terms, wherever their workforce is currently working from.

“Although we offer standard vouchers, we also offer a coupon system for corporates who want to reward their employees within specific parameters. If, for example, they want to offer employees a subsidised meal a day from Monday to Friday on a particular Nando’s menu item, then we can create a unique coupon that caters to this specific request.”

Torrente believes this is not a restaurant trend, but rather a corporate one. “Few restaurants are in the position we are to offer this service. We have the footprint and meal options to deliver healthy office lunches no matter where a person is working from. As central workspaces in a single location becomes less prominent , businesses are encouraging and promoting healthier lifestyle choices to their employees. It’s an exciting new era for us when the business-to-business restauranteur is on the rise and Nando’s is readily positioned to meet this growing need.”

For more information on how to purchase Nando’s vouchers for your employees or make Nando’s your work-from-home canteen please contact:

Jaegar Torrente

jaegar@nandos.com