Bulawayo Chicken Inn drive-through under construction

INNSCOR'S fast foods division has invested $900,000 in setting up a Chicken Inn drive-through service in Bulawayo.

The new outlet is under construction and will be opened next month, Innscor managing director, Warren Meares, said yesterday.

Business Chronicle visited the project site on the outskirts of the central business district along Matopos Road near the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) exhibition centre, where the contractor was busy working.

Meares said the drive-through business model, a convenient way of placing orders, paying and receiving food without disembarking from your vehicle, would be the first of its kind in Bulawayo.

The investment is expected to create 30 direct jobs, he said.

"If everything goes well, we're aiming at launching the Bulawayo Chicken Inn drive-through in December," said Meares.

"For this particular project, we invested about $900,000 and we're also exploring opportunities of setting up other similar business models throughout the country."

He said the giant conglomerate decided to set up the new project in Bulawayo as the second largest city has broader business opportunities.

"The concept of this Chicken Inn drive-through being started in Bulawayo isn't a matter of Bulawayo being the best among other cities in the country, but the potential which we saw in the city as it's bordered by South Africa and Botswana," said Meares.

The venture falls under the quick service food division, which owns outlets such as Chicken Inn, Pizza Inn, Bakers Inn, Fish Inn, Nandos, Steers and Creamy Inn.

The division has an estimated workforce of 2,250 across the country.

Innscor has branches in Bulawayo, Harare, Mvuma, Gweru, Victoria Falls and Chiredzi among other places.

Meares said his company was working on opening a second drive through outlet in Harare by January next year.

This project is part of the $3 million that was set aside by Innscor early this year to invest in the economy through its expansion project which is expected to create 150 new jobs.

The fast foods division has spent in excess of $1.5 million on expanding its operations in the southern region.

The investment saw the company opening new outlets in Chiredzi, Masvingo, Gwanda and Gweru.

Recently, Innscor announced plans to unbundle its food service business, Simbisa Brands, and moved to list it separately on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange to promote investment flexibility in the stand-alone entity.

The conglomerate opened its first quick service restaurant business, Chicken Inn outlet in the country in 1987.

Since then, the quick service restaurant business has expanded to 170 outlets in Zimbabwe and 209 outlets in the region through the addition of new brands and the franchising of existing brands through third-party licences.

In 1998, Innscor listed on the ZSE, utilising the quick service restaurant business to spread its footprint into Africa as a diversified Pan-African operation.

In the process quick service restaurants were opened in Zambia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Malawi, Namibia, Botswana, Mauritius, Swaziland and Lesotho.