Perhaps you thought they couldn’t, but it turns out they absolutely CAN. In a stunning display of compassion, and an equally passionate hunger for PERi-PERi chips, South Africans rallied together and collected over 22 000 tins of food for needy South African children through the Nando’s Tin For Tjips campaign.

It was in March this year that Nando’s decided to help South Africans clear out their overstocked apocalypse-ready pantries and direct those tins of food towards children in need. The home of PERi-PERi offered any Nando’s online or app customer a free single-serving of chips in exchange for their unwanted tins of food. Thus, Tin For Tjips was born.“Pre-schools and children under the age of six have been particularly hard hit by COVID due to a decline in funding and schools being closed,” says David Brown, Country Director of Joint Aid Management (JAM) South Africa, a leading NGO in the feeding scheme space and partner to Nando’s in the Tin for Tjips initiative, “We have been faced with a contrast of issues in that there is a surge in demand for food yet on the other side there’s an oversupply as people stocked up ahead of lockdown.”

Tin for Tjips aimed to bring these two problems together to deliver a solution to Early Childhood Development Centres. Doug Place, Chief Marketing Officer for Nando’s South Africa says, “We have been overwhelmed by the response we have received for this campaign. We knew South Africa had a big heart, but it wasn’t until this initiative went live that we found out just how big it was. Yet, none of this would have been possible without the biggest heart of all, our partners at JAM. ”It is through JAM that all the tinned food collected was distributed using its established network who take care of the feeding needs of pre-school children through Early Childhood Development centres across South Africa.

“Thanks to JAM, we will be able to make a dent in a major need, which is hunger relief in South Africa. This initiative will help get these tins to those who need it most, reaching children in Early Childhood Development Centres.”In addition, corporate South Africa really rose to the occasion, we had substantial unsolicited donations from some of South Africa’s largest tinned and frozen food manufacturers, Koo, All Gold, Africa Spice, Detpak, Edgemount Trading, RCL Foods, Rhenus Logistics, Steiner, McCain and Vector Logistics who handled all logistics surrounding this initiative.

Tin donations helped exceed the original goal of 20 000 tins, and really gave this campaign a CAN-do attitude in the fight against hunger in South Africa. Distribution of the tins began in April and will continue in May and June through JAM to Early Childhood Development Centres across the country. Should you need anything or would like to chat to anyone at Nando’s please let me know About Nando’s  From the humble beginnings of a single restaurant in Rosettenville in 1987, Nando’s has grown into the largest South African restaurant group to expand beyond our borders. Nando's is best known for its authentic PERi-PERi flame-grilled chicken, which has captivated guests the world over.

All Nando's PERi-PERi recipes, from the extensive range of restaurant chicken-bastings to sauces, spices and others, remain a closely guarded secret. Flame-grilled and never deep fried; guest choose Nando’s chicken from a menu that includes full, half or quarter butterfly-cut chicken, burgers, pitas, salads and a host of other innovative bites. Whether you like it hot, mild or with lemon and herb, Nando’s chicken is legendary and has cemented itself in the hearts of South Africans everywhere.

If your mouth is watering after reading this, learn more about the brand and place an order via the Nando’s website, or join the conversation and bring the fire on Facebook and Twitter.