It all began in 2010 as an internal competition at Nando’s South Africa, with the various regions competing against one another for the title of ‘Master Griller’. A Nando’s Master Griller is revered within the organisation, receives his or her own special cleaver, and can confidently command the respect of his or her co-workers.
“Nando’s prides itself on the overall quality of the Nando’s experience, from the original art on the walls to the careful customer care training we give each and every Nando’s staff member, and culminating in the amazing taste of the food we serve. Part of this is recognising and rewarding the pride that our grillers take in their work,” says Lianie Botha, Nando’s internal marketing manager.
But it is now a global competition. The first international griller’s competition took place in Australia between Malaysia, Australia and South Africa in 2011. The competition was then held in South Africa in 2012 and returned to Australia last year, where super griller Siphamandla Shabalala brought the Master Griller title back to South Africa, which is the home of Nando’s flame-grilled PERi-PERi chicken, after all.
This year, semi-finals have taken place throughout South Africa and on 3 August 2014, at Nando’s Tramshed in Pretoria, the 11 semi-finalists will be put through a gruelling test of their grilling paces to determine who will participate in the global finals in London, where they will compete to bring back the title for the second year in a row.
All the delicious grilled chicken from the challenge will be donated to Khulisa Social Solutions, a charity organisation selected by Jacaranda FM.
