Zimbabwean Groceries, Butchers and Restaurants in the UK: Finding Sadza, Matemba, Goat Meat and Home Comforts

For Zimbabweans in the UK, finding the right ingredients — roller meal for sadza, dried matemba, fresh goat, Aromat, Jikelele chicken spice, or mhunga for porridge — is both a practical necessity and an emotional anchor. The good news is that the UK's Zimbabwean and broader Southern African food supply network has grown substantially, with dedicated butcheries, online grocers, and African food shops serving communities from London to Birmingham and beyond. ## London and the South East London remains the strongest hub for Zimbabwean food shopping. Brixton Market and Peckham (particularly Rye Lane and surrounding streets) are well-established centres for Afro-Caribbean and African groceries, where you can find maize meal, dried fish, matemba, and various Zimbabwe-familiar vegetables and spices. East African shops in these areas often carry Southern African lines alongside their core stock. For dedicated Zimbabwean and Southern African produce, **Mwanaka Fresh Farm Foods and Butchery** is one of the most well-known options serving the diaspora. Based at 744 Hertford Road, Enfield, EN3 6PR (tel: 01992 765 668), Mwanaka offers an in-store and online service with nationwide delivery. Their product range is notably Zimbabwean in character: roller maize meal, refined maize meal, pearl millet (mhunga), organic sorghum, finger millet (zviyo/sadza rezviyo), pork trotters, mixed meat cuts, boerewors in multiple flavours, and familiar seasonings including Aromat and Jikelele chicken spice. Orders placed by 12pm are dispatched for next-day delivery; orders after 12pm Thursday arrive the following Tuesday. Their online shop at mwanakafarmshop.com handles card payments, PayPal and BACS. For anyone outside London who cannot easily reach an African food shop, Mwanaka's nationwide delivery makes it a practical first port of call. For maize meal specifically, products such as Iwisa Super Maize Meal (5kg) and Africa Select White Maize Meal are increasingly available through mainstream online retailers including Amazon UK, as well as specialist wholesalers like Aytac. Brands familiar from Zimbabwe and South Africa — Iwisa, Mwanaka's own label — are now easier to source than they were a decade ago. ## Birmingham Birmingham has one of the UK's most established African diaspora communities, and the city's African food shops reflect that history. Several African grocery stores across Birmingham stock Southern African staples including maize meal, dried fish, and spice blends. A number of these shops also operate halal butcher counters selling goat, lamb, beef and chicken — useful for Zimbabweans who eat halal or who simply want fresh goat cut to order, which is rarely available in mainstream British supermarkets. Shops tend to cluster in neighbourhoods with long-established African and Caribbean communities. The AfriDiaspora Market directory (afridiasporamarket.com) lists verified African vendors in Birmingham with current addresses, opening hours, delivery options and customer reviews — a useful tool when looking for a specific product or a shop close to home. Some Birmingham vendors offer local delivery across the West Midlands and ship non-perishables nationwide. For Zimbabwean boerewors specifically, some Birmingham-based meat suppliers cater to South African and Zimbabwean clients, producing original, piri-piri, cheese, and custom-recipe boerewors sausages — a category that is otherwise almost impossible to find in standard UK butcheries. ## Other Cities In cities such as Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Nottingham, and Leicester, Zimbabweans typically rely on a combination of West African grocery shops (which carry maize meal, dried fish, and some familiar spices), online ordering from suppliers like Mwanaka, and community networks. WhatsApp groups and Facebook communities for Zimbabweans in specific cities are often the most reliable way to learn which local shop has just received a delivery of matemba, or which restaurant is serving sadza on weekends. ## Zimbabwean Restaurants Dedicated Zimbabwean restaurants remain rare in the UK. Most Zimbabwean cooking is done at home or shared at community events, church gatherings, and diaspora association functions. In London, some Southern African restaurants occasionally feature sadza and stews on their menus, and pop-up Zimbabwean food events appear periodically — these are best tracked through community social media groups such as Zimbos in the UK on Facebook. ## Practical Tips for Sourcing Key Items **Sadza meal:** Mwanaka (online, nationwide), African shops in Brixton and Peckham, some Aytac wholesale branches, and increasingly Amazon UK. **Matemba (dried kapenta/small fish):** West African and East African grocery shops in Peckham, Brixton, and larger Birmingham African food stores. Also available from online African food retailers. **Goat meat:** African and halal butchers in Birmingham, Peckham, Brixton, East London, and many other cities with significant Muslim or African populations. Mwanaka also stocks mixed cuts and specialist cuts. **Boerewors and Zimbabwean-style sausages:** Mwanaka online, select Birmingham meat suppliers, and South African food specialist shops. **Spices and condiments (Aromat, Jikelele, Robertsons):** Mwanaka online, African food shops in major cities, and occasionally mainstream supermarkets in high-diversity areas. **Mhunga, zviyo, sorghum:** Mwanaka is currently one of the most reliable UK sources for these traditional grains, which are otherwise very difficult to find. For the most current store listings, delivery options, and new openings, the AfriDiaspora Market directory and community Facebook groups remain the best live resources, as individual shops open, close, and change their stock regularly.