Zimbabwean Grocery and Butchery Shops in the UK: Finding Covo, Matemba, Lacto and More

For Zimbabweans in the UK, tracking down familiar foods — covo, matemba, lacto, sadza flour, mazoe, and properly cut beef — remains one of the most persistent practical challenges of diaspora life. The good news is that the ecosystem of Zimbabwean and African food retailers in the UK has grown considerably, spanning physical shops, online stores, and informal networks operating city to city. **Online Retailers Serving the Zimbabwean Diaspora** Several online shops now specifically stock Zimbabwean products and deliver across the UK. Mwanaka Fresh Farm Foods and Butchery (mwanakafarmshop.com) is one of the most established Zimbabwean-focused online food and meat retailers. Based in Hertfordshire and contactable on 01992 765 668, Mwanaka offers nationwide delivery with orders placed before 12pm delivered next day. Their product range includes Zimbabwean-specific items such as roller maize meal, refined maize meal, pearl millet (mhunga), sorghum, finger millet (zviyo), and beef cuts including ribeye steak, chuck and blade, ox intestines (matumbu), pork trotters, and mixed cuts. They also stock Dairibord products, Karinga usavi relish mix, and boerewors in both original and garlic flavours. Payments are accepted via major debit and credit cards, PayPal, and BACS. Hungwe Tuckshop (hungwetuckshop.co.uk) is a London-based operation focused on Zimbabwean and Southern African snacks, drinks, and fabrics. Collections can be made from Woolwich Arsenal, and they also run city-to-city tours — meaning they periodically travel to other UK cities for drop-offs. Contact them on 07472350503 or info@hungwetuckshop.co.uk to find out about upcoming visits to your area. Gazmart (gazmart.co.uk) supplies Zimbabwean foods to diaspora communities in the UK and EU. Their stock includes Mazoe orange crush, Things, Cheezies, Jupiters crisps, and a range of Zimbabwean biscuits. They also have a sister operation in Zimbabwe for sending groceries to family back home. **Sending Groceries to Zimbabwe** For those wanting to send food to family in Zimbabwe rather than buy for themselves in the UK, ZimGroceries (zimgroceries.co.uk) offers a service where you order online from the UK and they deliver fresh groceries directly to your family's door inside Zimbabwe. The service has been used by customers in the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia, and Germany, and claims over 1,000 families served with five-star ratings. Delivery pricing starts at $8 for within 10km of Harare CBD, with free delivery on orders over $100 within that zone. Orders over $200 also qualify for free delivery. They offer ready-made hampers, a build-your-own hamper option, and photo-confirmed deliveries. **African Food Shops by City** Physical African grocery shops are concentrated in cities with larger Black African populations. In London, areas such as Peckham, Brixton, Woolwich, Tottenham, Walthamstow, and Dalston have established African and Caribbean food shops where Zimbabwean staples — including dried matemba (kapenta), covo (sometimes frozen), okra, mealie meal, and imported Zimbabwean condiments — can often be found alongside West and East African products. Shop availability varies and it is worth calling ahead to check stock. In Leeds, The Graze Meat Factory and African Food Shop (thegraze.co.uk) opened in September 2024 offering premium African-style meat cuts, spices, fruit, vegetables, beverages, and African food products. Their social media handle is @thegrazemeats. In cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Bristol, and Coventry, African and international grocery shops can typically be found near areas with established African communities. These shops are often not Zimbabwean-specific but frequently stock Southern African products. Community Facebook groups and WhatsApp networks — often searchable by city name alongside terms like 'Zimbabweans in [city]' — remain the most reliable way to get real-time recommendations for which shops currently stock specific items. **Beef Cuts and Biltong** For beef cuts in the Southern African style, standard UK supermarket cuts differ from what many Zimbabweans are accustomed to. Mwanaka Butchery offers familiar cuts online with nationwide delivery. For biltong and droëwors — shared snacking traditions across Zimbabwe and South Africa — several UK-based producers offer delivery. Simply African Food (simplyafricanfood.uk) operates a factory shop in Bordon, Hampshire, and sells biltong, droëwors, and boerewors online. Buy Biltong UK (buybiltong.co.uk, 01908 269986) based in Milton Keynes offers a wide range of biltong varieties and droëwors. Uncle Beef (unclebeef.co.uk) is an award-winning butcher offering premium beef, biltong, and droëwors with an in-store dining option. **Practical Tips** Zimbabwean diaspora Facebook groups organised by city or by region (such as 'Zimbabweans in London', 'Zimbabweans in Manchester') are consistently the fastest way to find out where to buy specific items like covo, lacto, or mazoe locally. Shop stock changes frequently and what is available in one month may not be the following month. For large or regular orders, several of the online retailers above offer delivery directly to your door anywhere in the UK, which is often more reliable than hoping a local African shop happens to have the specific Zimbabwean brand you need.