Supermarket chain born out of tuck-shop savings

HARARE - FOOD WORLD, Zimbabwe's premier independently-owned supermarket group is one story that epitomises hard work.

Food World was founded in December 1985 in Harare's dormitory town of Chitungwiza. After years of driving taxis and running tuck-shops, Maxwell Chisvo, his brother Innocent, and his wife Joyce syndicated their savings to open a small supermarket.

The small supermarket that had an intense focus on customer satisfaction was well located. It attracted a substantial number of customers within a short period and that was the genesis of a supermarket chain, which is now synonymous with quality service delivery.

In 1993, that small shop had become so busy, viable and a second supermarket was opened at the same shopping centre. The expansion was due to high demand from customers. Food World became renowned for competitive pricing. The standard kept proprietors on their toes, searching best deals and scarce products.
It was at this point that the company joined the franchise supermarket group Spar, and the new shop operated under the name Food World Spar.

In 1997, Food World opened its third branch, which marked the company's first foray into the Harare Central Business District.

In 2001, the company board made the decision to operate independently as a family-owned and controlled business. This was after leaving the Spar franchise and a brief stint with the Food Chain Group franchise.

The chain currently operates six branches and employs over 850 people from diverse backgrounds.

Each of our branches contains competitive departments such as a grocery, bakery, takeaway, and butchery, liquor and fruit and vegetable.

Food World's values that define its organisational culture include passion, service, hard work, honesty, Integrity and fairness

And the group's vision is "to develop a dynamic team that is passionate about providing excellent retail service. Together we will build an enduring great company that will be the retail leader in Africa.