Zimbabwean Food Shops, Butchers and Restaurants in the UK: Where to Find Sadza, Matemba, Chibuku and Home Ingredients

For Zimbabweans in the UK, the craving for sadza, matemba, Mazoe, or a proper bowl of dovi is real — and increasingly easy to satisfy. A growing network of online Zimbabwean grocery stores, specialist butchers, and African food shops means that most home essentials can now be delivered anywhere in Britain, often within days. ## Online Zimbabwean Grocery Stores **Mars International Foods (marsfoods.co.uk)** stocks a broad range of Zimbabwean staples including mealie-meal, Mazoe Orange Crush (2L, around £8), Cerevita in multiple flavours (around £8), dried kapenta, Aromat seasoning (75g, around £2), Nestle Cremora, and Zimbabwean spices and snacks. They offer UK-wide delivery and market themselves on affordability and freshness. **ZimFoods (zimfoods.co.uk)**, based in Birmingham, carries Lobels biscuits (Lemon Creams, Custard Creams, Bermuda Creams), Charhons biscuits, Royco Usavi Mix (both chicken and beef, around £1.50 on sale), Family Peanut Butter, Moringa tea, Black Cat peanut butter, and fresh mauyu (baobab fruit). They also offer wholesale options — a box of 24 Cerevita Banana sells for £170, and Cerevita Choc Malt box of 24 for £180. Delivery tracking is included and customers in London report one-week turnaround times even on pre-orders. **GazMart (gazmart.co.uk)**, established in 2018, focuses on Zimbabwean home foods including Mazoe, Lobels biscuits, and traditional pot-style products. Their stated aim is affordability — no premium pricing simply for the nostalgia factor. **Kalahari Moon (kalaharimoon.co.uk)**, based in Bristol (phone: +44 117 929 9879), stocks a particularly wide range of Zimbabwean drinks and snacks: Dairiboard Udiwo Maheu (500ml, £1.95), Dairiboard Pfuko Maheu Buttermilk (500ml, £1.95), Mazoe in multiple flavours — Orange Crush, Cream Soda, Raspberry and Blackberry (all 2L, £8.50), Maputi maize snacks (50g, 95p), Yugo Nyimo Beans (500g, £3.45), Willards Korn Kurls (100g, £3.35), Willards Jupiters (150g, £3.25), Charhons biscuits (500g, £2.95), and Royco Usavi Mix Beef (75g, £2.35). Their range spans three catalogue pages and includes South African crossover products popular with Zimbabweans. **Hungwe Tuckshop (hungwetuckshop.co.uk)**, based in Woolwich Arsenal, London, offers collection in addition to delivery. They stock madora (mopane worms), fresh nzungu (groundnuts, 1kg), Cerevita, baobab mauyu, Savanna Dry Cider, Hunters Gold Cider, Freezits, King Kurls, and traditional wooden cooking utensils including mugoti, musika and mugwati. They also offer a city-to-city tour service — contact 07472350503 to find out when they may be visiting your area. ## Butchers and Fresh Meat **Mwanaka Fresh Farm Foods and Butchery (mwanakafarmshop.com)** is one of the few UK operations combining a physical butchery with nationwide delivery of fresh meat and produce. Located at 744 Hertford Road, Enfield, London (EN3 6PR), phone 01992 765 668, they offer next-day delivery on orders placed before 12pm (note: orders after 12pm Thursday arrive the following Tuesday). Products include boerewors in original and garlic flavours, chakalaka beef boerewors, beef chuck and blade steak, pork trotters, mixed cuts, and their own branded milled grains — Mwanaka Refined Maize Meal, Pearl Millet/Mhunga, Organic Sorghum, and Finger Millet/Zviyo, all available in 5kg bags. Cold products are shipped with a temperature cooling system to maintain freshness. ## Sending Groceries to Family in Zimbabwe **ZimGroceries (zimgroceries.co.uk)** operates differently from UK-based retailers — it is a platform for diaspora members to shop online and have goods delivered directly to family in Harare and surrounding areas, typically within 3–5 business days. Products are sourced from within Zimbabwe. This is particularly useful for sending hampers for birthdays, funerals, or simply ensuring elderly relatives have essentials. Free delivery applies on orders over $100. Their service is currently expanding beyond Harare. ## Finding African Food Shops Locally Beyond these specialist Zimbabwean retailers, many ingredients — mealie-meal, dried fish, groundnut butter, matemba, madora, and sadza-making flour — are available from African and Asian grocery stores in most UK cities. In London, areas such as Brixton, Peckham, Woolwich, and Tottenham have well-stocked African food shops. Birmingham's Lozells and Handsworth areas, Manchester's Moss Side and Longsight, and Bristol's Easton neighbourhood all have African grocers that carry Southern African products. Large Asian supermarkets (such as those in Leicester and Wembley) often stock cornmeal and dried kapenta as well. ## Chibuku and African Drinks Chibuku (opaque beer) is not widely sold in UK shops due to its short shelf life and refrigeration requirements — your best bet is African community events, Zimbabwean social clubs, or asking at African grocery stores whether they can source it. Maheu (Dairiboard Pfuko and Udiwo brands) is available through Kalahari Moon and some African stores. Savanna Dry and Hunters Gold cider are stocked by Hungwe Tuckshop and some African/international off-licences. ## Tips for Getting the Best Value Most of these online stores run regular sales — ZimFoods frequently offers 50% off on many lines, so checking their site before ordering at full price is worthwhile. Wholesale options make sense if you are shopping for a family gathering or event. For heavy staples like 10kg mealie-meal, comparing delivery costs against visiting a local African grocery store is sensible, as shipping bulk items can add significantly to the total. Several retailers, including Hungwe Tuckshop, offer collection options that eliminate delivery charges entirely.