Grilling his way from Tawau to Botswana

Daily Express

04-07-2025

Published on: Friday, July 04, 2025
Published on: Fri, Jul 04, 2025 Text Size: From a small town in Tawau to the international stage in Botswana, one young man's journey shows how far chicken and purpose can take you. His name is Arafad and his journey started at a restaurant called Nando's - known around the world for its flame-grilled PERi-PERi chicken, but to the people who work there, it's something much more.
Advertisement You may not have thought much about who's behind your food. Most of us don't. Especially in East Malaysia, where we're spoiled for choice and flavour. From kampungs to cities across Sabah and Sarawak, every community has its own way of preparing food that's rich in tradition, shaped by culture, and full of heart. Each dish reflects the people who made it. It's the same at Nando's where there's a saying: 'It's the people that make the chicken.' Just like how every community adds its own flavour to the table, at Nando's, food is made with that same pride, passion and serious love for the grill. And when they say serious, they mean Gold Standard serious. In fact, the brand takes it so seriously, there's an entire International Grillers' Challenge dedicated to celebrating these unsung kitchen heroes and the skill it takes to make Gold Standard flame-grilled PERi-PERi chicken. In Malaysia, grillers battle it out at Regional and National levels, with the top scorers heading into the global spotlight. Not Just Food – A Platform for People. Nando's believes when care is put into its people, that's when food can go from good to great. Many of its team members—known as Nandocas—start as crew members and rise through the ranks thanks to hands-on training, mentorship, and internal promotions. And this is how one homegrown Nandocas, Arafad, a young man from Kampung Kurnia Jaya, Tawau went from prepping ingredients to Mentor Griller in just three years. His secret? Purpose. 'I want to be someone my child can look up to one day,' he shares. That fire, both at home and at work, has taken him all the way to Botswana, where he represented Malaysia in the 2024 International Grillers Challenge and competed against 29 other grillers from around the globe. For someone who started in Tawau, it was a proud and unforgettable experience—especially when he got to meet the very founders of the brand, Fernando Duarte and Robbie Brozin. 'When I see customers enjoying the chicken I grilled, I feel appreciated. That's what keeps me going.' Today, he's working his way toward Assistant Patrao (Assistant Restaurant Manager) while training the next batch of grillers as part of The People's Griller campaign, where customers rate their chickens and the griller that made it. The winner? They get a fast-track pass straight to National Grillers Challenge. Some might say, 'isn't it just chicken?' Sure. But the Gold Standard is Nando's way of making sure every chicken is flame-grilled to perfection – juicy, smoky, with just the right crackle of crispy skin and that unmistakable PERi-PERi flavour in every bite. You're not just getting a meal. You're getting an experience. You hear your order being called out, the sizzle of your chicken on the grill and the knowledge that it's being crafted by someone who genuinely cares. As Arafad puts it: 'I always imagine there's someone excited for their food. So, I grill it like I would for my own family.' From Tawau to the world – it's not just chicken when it's grilled with heart. That's a Nando's Thing.