Finding Zimbabwean Groceries, Butcheries and Products in the UK

For Zimbabweans in the UK, the craving for matemba, Mazoe, Freezit, maputi, Colcom polony or a proper nyama stew is something that never quite goes away. The good news is that the Zimbabwean food retail scene in the UK has grown considerably, with a mix of dedicated online stores, physical African shops, and South African retailers stocking many of the brands you grew up with. **Online Zimbabwean and Southern African Grocery Stores** The most convenient option for most diaspora members is online ordering with UK-wide delivery. **ZimFoods (zimfoods.co.uk)** is one of the most established UK-based Zimbabwean online stores, describing itself as "one click away from home." They stock a wide range of Zimbabwean staples including Lobels biscuits (Lemon Creams, Custard Creams, Vanilla Creams, Bermuda Creams), Charhons biscuits, Cerevita (available in banana and chocolate malt variants, with wholesale boxes of 24 available), Family Peanut Butter (dovi), Black Cat Peanut Butter, Colcom French Polony, Knorrox Stock Cubes, Moringa Tea Leaves, Rajah Curry Powder, and Joko Tea. Stock levels vary and some items go in and out regularly, so checking back frequently is worthwhile. They also run a ZimFoods app for easier ordering. **Hungwe Tuckshop (hungwetuckshop.co.uk)** is another UK online store focused on Zimbabwean and African products. They stock Freezits, Cerevita, Iwisa Super Maize Meal (10kg), fresh groundnuts/nzungu (1kg), mauyu/baobab, King Kurls, and traditional cooking utensils including wooden mugoti, musika and mugwati sets — items you will not easily find elsewhere. Orders can be collected from Woolwich Arsenal in London, and they also do city-to-city tours. Contact them on 07472350503 to check their delivery schedule to your area. **Kalahari Moon (kalaharimoon.co.uk)**, based in Bristol (phone: +44 117 929 9879), has a dedicated Zimbabwean products section. Their stock includes Dairiboard Udiwo Maheu (500ml), Schweppes Mazoe in Orange, Cream Soda, Raspberry and Peach (2L bottles at around £8.50 each), Yugo Nyimo Beans (500g), Monati Super Mabela Porridge (5kg), Charhons Quality Biscuits, Royco Usavi Mix (beef and chicken), Royco Mchuzi Mix, Willards Chicken Flings, Maputi maize snacks (50g individual or 20-packet bulk), and Cheeky Chilli Peri Peri Sauce. **The Savanna (thesavanna.co.uk)** is a South African grocery store that also carries a small Zimbabwe-tagged range including Mazoe Cream Soda (2L, £10.49), Maputi Salted 50g, Sun Jam, Happy Hippo White Maize Kernels (1kg, £5.49), Willards Korn Kurls, and Zambezi Lager. Stock is often limited so check availability before ordering. **The South African Spaza Shop (southafricanshop.uk)**, based in Swindon (Unit 10 Woodside Park, South Marston, SN3 4WA), stocks South African staples that overlap heavily with Zimbabwean cooking needs — maize meal, Koo products, boerewors, droewors, biltong, Simba chips, Jelly Tots, and braai essentials. Free delivery on orders over £100. They have a physical store and deliver nationwide. **Finding Goat Meat in the UK** Goat meat is not stocked by most of the Zimbabwean online stores listed above, but it is widely available through African, Caribbean, and Asian halal butchers in most UK cities. In Birmingham, London, Manchester, Leicester, and Coventry, halal butchers and African grocers regularly carry fresh and frozen goat (both bone-in cuts and minced). Markets such as Birmingham's Bullring outdoor market, Brixton Market in London, and Longsight Market in Manchester are known for goat availability. Caribbean butchers also frequently stock goat for curry and stew cuts. When searching, ask specifically for "goat shoulder," "goat leg," or "bone-in goat pieces" — these suit Zimbabwean-style slow-cooked nyama preparations. Some shops label it as "mutton" in South Asian halal butchers, so it is worth clarifying. **Products That Remain Hard to Find** Chibuku Super (opaque sorghum beer) faces significant import restrictions and regulatory hurdles in the UK, making it effectively unavailable through standard retail channels. Lacto, the fermented milk drink, is similarly difficult to source in authentic form, though some African shops carry comparable fermented milk products. Matemba (dried kapenta/small fish) is available from some African and Asian food stores — in London particularly — and can sometimes be found in shops serving the West African community as they use similar dried fish in cooking. Freezeit ice lollies as sold in Zimbabwe are not manufactured in the UK, but Hungwe Tuckshop lists Freezits among their products, suggesting some supply exists through specialist channels. **Tips for Shopping** Stock availability changes frequently across all these stores, with items going in and out depending on import shipments. It is worth joining WhatsApp groups or following these stores on Instagram (ZimFoods is active at @zimfoods with nearly 6,000 followers) to get notifications when new stock arrives. Many stores also offer hamper options around Christmas and Easter, which can be a cost-effective way to stock up on multiple items in one order.