Nando’s Peri-Peri is now widely available in more than 10,000 of the nation’s biggest retailers. Safeway, Kroger, Fresh Market, Publix, and many other supermarkets carry Nando’s Peri-Peri sauce now, and Walmart recently began selling the sauce—made with the African Bird’s Eye Chili Pepper—in its thousands of U.S. retail locations.
It’s the latest example of a rapidly growing food trend. Peri-peri has been described as the newest chicken craze by Chicago Magazine, a “supersauce” by Men’s Health, and evidence of a growing interest in heat by McCormick’s Annual Flavor Forecast.
Chefs across America are feeling the burn. Peri-peri is being served on sweet corn in Indianapolis, on spicy chicken wings in Harlem, and on frogs legs in Las Vegas. In Chicago restaurants, a full-fledged peri-peri battle is underway. Nando’s Peri-Peri is fueling the fire by making its Peri-Peri sauce available all over the U.S.
“Some people say that this blend is addictive. We have no comment,” says Dominic McNeill, global marketing director of the Nando’s Grocery Division.
Nando’s Peri-Peri sauce is packed with flavor because it is made with sun-ripened lemons, onion, a dash of garlic, and blended with a special ingredient: the African Bird’s Eye Chilli pepper. Peri-Peri (Swahili for “pepper pepper”) is the heart and soul of Nando’s Peri-Peri and the secret ingredient behind Nando’s 1,200 restaurants worldwide.
“You can say I’m mildly obsessed. I grew up eating Nando’s pretty much every day,” says Atlanta chef Justin Anthony, who was raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, and now owns and runs 10 Degrees South, Yebo, Cape Dutch, and other popular Atlanta restaurants. “Nando’s Peri-Peri sauce is so versatile, with a range of flavors and heats. It really goes on everything.”
Back in 1987, friends Fernando Duarte and Robbie Brozin visited a humble Portuguese eatery in the heart of Rosettenville, South Africa, to try some Peri-peri–marinated chicken. They loved their lunch so much they bought the restaurant. Three decades later, there are 1,200 Nando’s Peri-Peri restaurants spread across five continents—including more than 30 U.S. locations in and around Washington, D.C., and Chicago, with many more U.S. cities to come.
The peri-peri sauce is the hero in each of the restaurants, where millions of Nando’s fans feast on our peri-peri chicken, marinated for 24 hours and grilled over an open flame. But now customers can take the flavor, fire, and passion of peri-peri wherever they go.
All of Nando’s Peri-Pri chilli peppers come from southern Africa. No place on earth has more perfect soil and sunshine to grow the African Bird’s Eye Chilli. At the Peri-farm, workers wait until the chilies are at their reddest, fiery best, then handpick them, dry them, and crush them.
Nando's range of peri-peri sauces combine flavor with varying degrees of heat that will satisfy everyone from the most timid peri-peri beginner to fiery heat seekers. Made from fresh ingredients, the peri-peri sauces contain no artificial preservatives, no artificial colors, and no artificial flavors. They’re also gluten-free, kosher, and suitable for vegetarians.
