Vanniversary: The Untold Mambo’s Chicken Story

When the name Mambo's Chicken is mentioned the first image that comes to the mind of most people is that of their witty social media posts that sometimes border on controversy.

However, not many are aware of the history and philosophy behind Mambo's brand that has led to phenomenal growth in their first two years of operation.

In this exclusive article, we reveal the inside scoop on Mambo's and we are sure you will be surprised to learn the story behind the brand.

ZimTrending caught up with Mr. Tapiwa Mandibaya, the head of quality control at Mambo's to hear their story. The fast-growing organisation was celebrating its second anniversary and they aptly dubbed the event ‘Vanniversary'. A combination of ‘Valentines' and ‘Anniversary'.

Mandibaya told us that the Mambo's Chicken idea was mooted in 2010 but they only managed to open on the 14th of February in 2018 after surmounting a number of challenges.

‘Initially, we wanted to open on the 14th of February in 2016 but we kept going through challenges that kept pushing us back until 2018. We recruited our team in 2016 and we didn't know what to do with them after we failed to open. Funny enough, of the core team that was there no one left and everyone was patient with us. When we opened we didn't have a lot of things in place. We didn't have the equipment, menu boards, etc but we said we should just open and see how it goes' said Mandibaya.

There are times when they felt like giving up on the dream but they had something pushing them that pushed them towards pressing on.

They managed to take their entire team to South Africa for four months for actual, practical training in a restaurant before they were even sure when they would open shop.

Christianity is also a key factor in the growth of Mambo's Chicken as the organisation is built on strong Christian ethics.

”The owners of this place are young people who are supported and surrounded by Christians. Christianity is of paramount importance when we recruit. Most of the workers we have here believe in Christ and we believe this has helped us grow as well. We also actively seek to strike a balance between employee and customer satisfaction.”, Mandibaya added.

One outstanding aspect of Mambo's has been their social media ads that are very witty and take an intelligent dig at their competitors as well as social aspects. The posts are centred around trending social media topics and they always get people talking.

When questioned about this Mandibaya highlighted that they are able to create engaging social media posts because they have a young team that's in tune with current trends and issues. 

‘We have a young team from the owners down to the support staff. This helps us relate better with our customers and they identify with our posts', Mandibaya added.

So good are their posts that Mambo's last year won the exceptional marketing award courtesy of the Market Association of Zimbabwe (MAZ).

Mambo's has big plans for 2020. They currently only have one branch but they have vowed to expand this year. 

Mandibaya explained, ‘We currently have one branch because we wanted to understand the market better and see how best we can expand as we are well-aware that unmanaged growth can be disastrous. Now we fell we are ready to expand and we are going to surprise many'.

Mambo's is also very grateful to its loyal customers who have been standing with them throughout their existence.

We wait to see how 2020 unfolds for this fast-growing company.