Slice Group
Slice Group is the trading name of Packers International which comprises of fast food brands Chicken Slice, Creamy Slice, Pizza Slice, Slice Grill & Burger, Slice Grocery, Slice Bakery, and Slice Express. It was founded by Tawanda Mutyebere in 2010 when he opened the first Chicken Slice branch in Mvuma.
Background
Mutyebere has said he was inspired by his father who owned a carpentry shop that employed 6 people and was a mine worker at the same time. His desire to have financial independence and become a successful entrepreneur pushed him to start his first company Con Tools in 2004 which supplied Bitumen, Modified Tar, and cold mix.
In 2010 with his own capital and some financing from banks, he ventured into the fast food business with the opening of a Chicken Slice outlet in Mvuma. At that time Mvuma was virtually a ghost town with a major highway passing through it connecting Harare to South African. Mutyebere thought made a gamble to capitalise on the high volume of cross border travelers along this highway. The company was able to create employment for over 100 people in Mvuma town.
Growth
In the early days, the major customers were highway travelers going to and from South Africa. The large majority of these were clients brought by buses which would be carrying more than 60 passengers at once. Tawanda Mutyebere quickly lured most of the buses on this highway by offering the drivers vouchers of food worth $10 if a bus parked at Chicken Slice in Mvuma. This led to the number of buses parking at Chicken Slice Mvuma increasing. This increased Chicken Silce’s customers rapidly.
The company effectively posed competition to the Simbisa Brands whose Chicken Inn, Creamy Inn, Pizza Inn and Bakers Inn products had dominated Zimbabwe's fast food industry for decades.
Chicken Slice was known by customers for larger meal portions (and therefore cheaper food) than Simbisa Brands. Many people switched to Chicken Slice. The company also invested much in advertising and signed on popular celebrities like Jah Prayzah and Sulumani Chimbetu to be brand ambassadors.
After 2010, the company managed to open several locations and expanded its operations to Gweru, Harare, Mutare, and Bulawayo.
In 2020, the Slice Group had a total of 14 branches in Zimbabwe.
Brands
Chicken Slice
Slice Bakery
Slice Grill & Burger
Pizza Slice
Creamy Slice
Slice Grocery
