The Brand Founder
UNFORGETTABLE FLAME GRILLED CHICKEN & PRAWNS
FRANGO PRAWNS® was built on one belief:
Great flavour begins with respect — respect for product, respect for fire, and respect for the customer.
This brand is more than a concept. It is the result of a lifetime spent inside kitchens, seafood operations, and disciplined restaurant environments — where standards were never optional.
The promise behind FRANGO PRAWNS® is simple and non-negotiable:
• Never compromise on quality
• Never cut corners on product
Consistency is not an ambition, It is a requirement.
THE BRAND STORY – BACKGROUND & CONCEPT
FRANGO & PRAWNS® — Portuguese–Mozambique Fusion
FRANGO & PRAWNS® is a premium, flame-grilled, takeaway-led restaurant concept, with casual dining as a complementary experience.
Rooted in Portuguese–Mozambique culinary traditions and adapted for South African flavour preferences, the brand specialises in chicken and prawns cooked over an open flame — finished with a distinctive range of signature sauces that define the experience.
HERITAGE & CULINARY FOUNDATION
The name FRANGO PRAWNS® pays tribute to the original dish that inspired the concept.
In the 1990s, at the Portuguese restaurant Coimbra in Durban, Alvaro Martins created what would become the now-iconic Half Chicken & Prawns combination.
Originally, the dish was known as “Frango Prawn” — the first name given to the pairing before it evolved into the well-known Half Chicken & Prawns.
At the time, the founder of FRANGO PRAWNS® was a guest (from Portugal) of Alvaro Martins and worked closely with him. Witnessing the creation, popularity, and commercial success of this flame-grilled pairing became a defining moment.
The bold simplicity of chicken and prawns cooked over an open flame — balanced, flavourful, and memorable — laid the foundation for what would later evolve into a scalable modern brand built around the same winning combination.
The name honours that origin — preserving its authenticity while elevating it into a refined Portuguese–Mozambique fusion identity designed for today’s South African market.
The foundation began at home (PORTUGAL)
A father known as Carlos “Camarão” — “Camarão” meaning prawn — earned his nickname through exceptional seafood standards and was widely recognised as a master of flame-grilled prawns.
A mother, Adelaide, celebrated for authentic Portuguese grilled chicken prepared with simplicity, structure, and unwavering discipline.
Those early lessons shaped an uncompromising approach to food.
Beyond family heritage, decades of hands-on leadership across the South African market built deep operational expertise, including:
• Restaurant & seafood operations Working across the full seafood value chain — from sourcing, processing, distribution, and retail — rated the #1 seafood retail operator in the country.
FRANGO & PRAWNS® represents the convergence of:
• Generational culinary heritage • Deep seafood expertise • Proven South African market experience • Structured, scalable operational systems
Where heritage meets execution. Where fire meets precision. Where flavour meets commercial strength.