MotF 196: Bread and Circuses

MotF 196: Bread and Circuses

The Challenge


Make a map on a topic related to food or entertainment.

The Restrictions
There are no restrictions on when the PoD of your map should be. Fantasy, sci-fi, and future maps are allowed.

If you're not sure whether your idea meets the criteria of this challenge, please feel free to PM me or comment in the main thread.

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Entries will end for this round when the voting thread is posted on Monday, May 13th, 2019.

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PLEASE KEEP ALL DISCUSSION ON THE CONTEST OR ITS ENTRIES TO THE MAIN THREAD.
Any discussion must take place in the main thread. If you post anything other than a map entry (or a description accompanying a map entry) in this thread then you will be asked to delete the post.

 
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Hi! This is a simple map i made, it is in the continuity of the last Portuguese Zambezia map i made and i recommend you to read the description (at least the last chapter) to understand the map's context.

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No, Nando's is not Zambezian

Lauren Chapman, 19 September 2017

Last month, the Famous food chain Nando's pompously inaugurated its Two-Thousandth restaurant in Leeds. In 30 years the chain built an international empire operating in 43 countries thanks to its tasty Peri-Peri Chicken served in a distinctive high-tier Luso-African ambiance, but contrary to popular belief, not only is Nando's not from Zambezia, it's surprisingly rare in this country.

Let's rewind, Nando's was founded by Fernando Duarte, born in northern "Portuguese Southern Africa", in What is now the republic of Candido, from a Portuguese father and a Polish mother, both first generation migrants to Africa. In an Interview two years ago he remembered how he discovered Piri-Piri when he was 8 at the the controversial Colonial Exposition of 1968, the last of its kind, he was exposed to the variety of cuisines of Portugal's colonies from the Muamba de Galinha brought by Angolan migrants who went to the other side of the continent after England took over the country, to the Goan Chamuças. After this revelatory experience his mind was set: he would open a restaurant in his city, Vilarouco when he would be older.

Alas fate had other plans for him. In 1972 student protests which had started in France spread to Portugal, and most of the left wing (as well as anyone who wanted the colonial war to stop) rallied behind them and won a landslide election within the mainland's seats, in a Bizzare succession of events that are still studied today, Portugal unilaterally declared independence from its own colonial empire, which prompted a military intervention from the navy and the government was sacked shortly after, but it was clear that Portugal and its colonies couldn't go back to the Status Quo, and a two years plan aimed at the Independence of Portugal's colonies was put forward, this plan carved the two countries of Moçambique and Candido from the Northern, less densely settled, half of the Southern African colony. However it quickly became clear that the majority rule of the two new states - which were the battlefield of a terrible colonial war just years before - would lead to a significant decrease of quality of life of the white settlers. Duarte's familly, like hundred of thousands of others decided to flee to the new State of Zambezia to the south, however the economy had trouble recovering from the forced independance and the influx of over half a million of people, and his familly like many others decided to emigrate to the stabler, wealthier South Africa.

South Africa in the 80s was the country of tomorrow, the process of extension of the franchise, started in 1953 by the United Party had been finished by 1981 and the country got significant foreign investments and the economy was booming and lifting millions out of poverty, it was in this context that Duarte, now living in Johannesburg, and his friend Robert Brozin founded Nando's in 1987. The success was nearly instantaneous, within 2 years the first restaurant was open in Portugal, and within 4 years in the United Kingdom, the latter country is now fond of the restaurant's luso-african cuisine, with 356 outlets employing over 10,000. South Africa is a close second with 315 stores, its northern neighbour Zambezia however pales compered to them, with only 26 Nando's in the whole country! But why do Zambezians seem to shun the restaurant that celebrates their cuisine?

When contacted, Roberto Carriço, the head of marketing of Nando's in the country explains us Nando's was sadly late at penetrating the Zambezian market, with the first restaurant only being opened in 2002 but that the firm was making great strides at expending its activities the country, a lower ranked marketing worker told us his theory that Zambezians were not interested in going to Nando's because they already ate the same food at home and didn't find any exoticism in it, he also added that Zambezian avoid fast-food chains and prefer to spend hours eating, contrary to South African who, according to him, "had a cuisine influenced by English one that favourised quick meals". Both theories don't add up however, as various studies show that Zambezians do love quick, traditional street cuisine. And Mr Carriço lied to our reporter as we found that a Nando's restaurant had opened in Nova Lisboa (or Tsamvi, depending on who you ask) in 1989 only to close three years later, leaving the country without any Nando's for a decade.

Independent food market analyst Tomás Sibanda has another explanation "Most Zambezians don't have the purchasing power to go at Nando's. When you limit yourself to the population numbers, South Africa has 60 millions while Zambezia has 40 millions, so you may be puzzled as to why it has less than a tenth as many Nando's, but the truth is that many less Zambezians can afford to eat there" he told us, "The first difference is in the rich, white population, Zambezia has 5 millions white and mixed race, but South Africa has 8 millions whites along with 7 millions coloured and asians who have virtually the same level of income, and on average a white Zambezian has a lower quality of life, more comparable to those of spaniards or italians, that is already a more than threefold difference in the market size" But the true difference lies in the purchasing power of the black african majority, Sibanda says: "In South Africa the average black african earns about 40% as much as the average white, and it's getting closer every year, the country has a great and stable economy that has not had a recession in nearly 15 years", according to the Southern African Labour and Development Research Unit, 50% of the black south african population is in the middle class as defined by the improbability of falling into poverty. 'By comparison", he added "Zambezia had a very shaky post independence period, the loss of part of the export market really hurt the economy, the politics were divided , and still are to an extent, because of the legacy of the colonial war and its atrocities, and that slowed down the necessary reforms to reduce inequalities, today less than 15% of black africans are considered middle class, and even those that are considered as such earn less than their South African counterpart" While Nando's meal are cheaper in absolute term in Zambezia, at £3.5 compared to £5 in South Africa, if income differences among this middle class are factored in, they are more than two times more expensive!

"Finally" he concluded "Nando's has made some PR gaffes, when they first opened a store in Nova Lisboa (or Tsamvi) in 1989, Fernando Duarte himself greeted customers, but at the time there was quite a lot of resentment among the white Zambezian population toward those who left the country after the independence, they thought they had abandoned them and sometime called them the "desertores", i think it didn't help the word of mouth for the firm"

Similarly a few years ago Nando's started an advertising campaign called "The Last Dictator" which showed the controversial King of Babemba (or Chitimukulu) Manga II playing with various dictators of history, from Germany's Seldte to China's Xun, and more importantly General Miranda Rebocho Vaz, the comparison between Manga II, who is regularly condemned for his authoritarian rule and human rights violation by the international community while African Nationalist praise the country's continued independence, fast growth and indigenous technological and industrial base, and Miranda Rebocho Vaz, the Portuguese General who plannified the resettlement program during the colonial war that would affect over 2 millions made a large controversy, that ended with the closure of all 3 Nando's in Babemba.

While Nando's roots are indeed in Zambezia and the former Portuguese empire, it never needed it to grow into the food giant it is now, the brand has recently been included in the list of the 20 most recognized food industry brands worldwide and the company registered record net profits last year, and with the company's aim to decuple its number of restaurant in the United States over the next decade it doesn't seem likely to stop anytime soon.



 
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