MALAWI – Afribrand, the master franchiser of American fast food restaurant chain KFC in Malawi, has cut ribbon to a new outlet in Blantyre, south of the country.

The new branch features a drive through point of service aimed to facilitate orders in under five minutes from point of order to food handover cubicle.

The move is in response to the changing consumer lifestyles as it aims to broaden its appeal and foster a convenient way for its customers to get their favourite KFC meals.

The facility also has an ambient dining space and walk-in-take away service station.

It was set up courtesy of a partnership between Afribrands Limited and Icon Properties, a subsidiary of Nico Holdings plc where the space is located.

“We noted that Malawians require convenience and a one-stop shopping experience. This is why we put up this drive- through to give the nation desirable infrastructure fit for the everchanging world,” said Icon Properties chief executive officer Ellen Nyasulu said.

Constructed at a cost of K1.1 billion (US$1m), the new KFC outlet has created 80 jobs.

Afribrands Limited principal operator and director Hamza Tayub said besides creating jobs, they have also opened business opportunities for other suppliers such as those in spices and vegetables business.

“This is big for us as we are trying to promote investments in Malawi. This is certainly not the last as we are trying to explore other areas in the country where we can equally open other restaurants,” he said.

The new outlet is the fried chicken maker’s third branch in the Southern African country, with the other two located in Blantyre central business district (CBD) and in Lilongwe which also features a drive through point of sale.

Domino’s launches affordable range of pizzas

Meanwhile in Nigeria, Domino’s pizza Nigeria has redefined “Affordable Enjoyment” with the launch of the Everyday Value Range Pizzas to help customers afford their weekly pizza fix.

The new pizza offering features seven new exciting flavours: Cheese, Fiery Chic, Chickenpie, Fiery Beef, Meatball, Plantain Suya and Smokey Sausage at a reduced price of N2500.

In February 2019, the pizzarian introduced a miniature version of the pizza boxes the market was familiar with, for 550 naira (US$1.50).

Smaller in size and far cheaper than the medium-sized pizza which costs N3,900 ($9), this new version was designed to be affordable for everyone.

“The Nigerian market is diverse, and the potential for profit remains high,” he said. “However, we can’t overlook the economic instability [which] has, in some way, affected purchasing power. At times like this, it becomes pertinent for industry players like ourselves to cushion the effect of this situation on customers,” CEO Patrick Michael told Al Jazeera then.

Since 2015, Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, has gone into recession twice and in that time, the naira has plummeted against the dollar, losing 70 percent of its value. That put the economy in a chokehold.

To cope with this reality, businesses like Eat’n’Go, parent company of Domino’s Pizza are turning to sachet marketing as a strategy to stay in business.

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