English – The Conversation | Global supply chains keep workers poor: three case studies show how the cycle can be broken by Annika Surmeier, Senior Lecturer, Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, University of Cape Town

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Globally, about one‑fifth of workers live in poverty because global supply chains concentrate value in multinational buyers while keeping wages low, a pattern that fuels a “race to the bottom” across sectors such as agriculture, tourism and retail. Although standards‑based and certification schemes have aimed to improve conditions, they often backfire by pressuring producers to cut labour costs, as seen in South Africa’s fruit export industry. Recent research on three African case studies—Nando’s PERi Farms supporting chilli farmers in Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique; Mountain Harvest’s higher‑price, diversified coffee model in Uganda; and Fair Trade in Tourism’s collaborative, living‑wage‑linked certification in South Africa—shows that locally grounded, long‑term partnerships and shared responsibility among buyers, suppliers, workers and NGOs can raise incomes, improve working conditions and foster sustainable livelihoods. Achieving widespread living wages therefore requires moving beyond compliance‑only approaches toward collaborative sourcing, fair pricing and consumer support for ethically‑priced goods.

Read more: https://theconversation.com/global-supply-chains-keep-workers-poor-three-case-studies-show-how-the-cycle-can-be-broken-283806

#InternationalLabour #Europeansupermarkets #Nandos #MountainHarvest #FairTrade

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FRIED CHICKEN BOOM: Six major chicken chain openings in 18 months — and now Wingers picks Swansea for its biggest ever UK restaurant

Wingers — the fast-growing American-style buttermilk chicken brand — has confirmed its first ever Welsh location will open at Parc Fforestfach in Swansea this summer, and that the Swansea unit will be the company’s largest restaurant in the UK.

The arrival is the latest chapter in what has become a remarkable run of fried chicken openings in and around Swansea — a sector that has expanded faster than almost any other part of the local hospitality scene over the past 18 months.

Wingers — biggest in the UK, first in Wales

The new Wingers restaurant will occupy a 2,040 sq ft unit at Parc Fforestfach on a 15-year lease, with the company investing more than £300,000 in the fit-out and creating up to 20 local jobs.

Anthony Round, Franchise Development at Wingers, said the company was “very excited” to be opening at the park, describing the location as a perfect fit.

An opening date and promotional launch event are still to be announced.

Nando’s confirmed at last

Alongside Wingers, the long-anticipated Parc Fforestfach Nando’s has now been confirmed for a summer opening too. Nando’s was first reported by Swansea Bay News to be eyeing the site in October last year, when planning documents revealed the chain was lined up to take over the existing Card Factory unit.

The new Nando’s will occupy a 3,945 sq ft restaurant unit, with earlier planning documents suggesting around 40 jobs would be created.

The chain has been steadily expanding its south-west Wales footprint. Earlier this month, the Llanelli branch was ranked the second-best Nando’s in Wales based on Tripadvisor reviews.

Six chicken arrivals in 18 months

The Wingers and Nando’s confirmations cap an extraordinary run of fried chicken brand expansions across south-west Wales.

The boom began on Wind Street in February 2025 with American wing specialist Wingstop, which confirmed its Swansea opening earlier that year and launched on what is the city’s most concentrated nightlife strip.

Four months later, Wind Street picked up a second chicken chain — American fast-casual brand Slim Chickens opened on 26 June 2025, bringing southern-fried tenders to what the brand itself described as the city’s favourite party street.

Then came the largest single Swansea opening of all. American chicken giant Popeyes launched on Oxford Street on 3 October 2025 in the former Topshop building, drawing 18-hour overnight queues on opening day — one of the most extraordinary opening day responses to any food retailer in the city in living memory.

The Popeyes craze then spread to Llanelli, where the chain took over the former Pizza Hut at Parc Trostre following that brand’s collapse into administration — and opened to 14-hour overnight queues of its own, confirming this wasn’t simply a Swansea phenomenon.

That makes six major fried chicken arrivals or expansions in 18 months: Wingstop (Wind Street, February 2025), Slim Chickens (Wind Street, June 2025), Popeyes (Oxford Street, October 2025), Popeyes (Llanelli Parc Trostre), Nando’s (Parc Fforestfach, summer 2026), and Wingers (Parc Fforestfach, summer 2026).

City centre v retail park

There’s a geography to the boom worth noting. Three of the city centre arrivals — Wingstop, Slim Chickens and Popeyes — sit within a few hundred metres of each other on or around Wind Street and Oxford Street, the heart of Swansea’s evening economy.

The Parc Fforestfach openings serve a different audience: car-borne family trade rather than late-night party crowd, lunch and dinner rather than post-pub.

The pattern reflects a wider trend confirmed by Swansea BID at the end of 2025: new business openings outpaced closures in Swansea city centre over the year, with the city centre reporting renewed business confidence.

Wider Parc Fforestfach line-up

The Wingers and Nando’s arrivals add to a steadily growing mix of leisure, food and retail operators at the retail park. In March, planning permission was sought for a 24-hour Anytime Fitness gym at the site, taking over the large unit previously occupied by Homesense and, before that, Borders.

Children’s indoor activity centre Zuno Play and pet retailer Jollyes are also among the recent or pending additions to the park’s line-up.

The owners’ view

Adam Martin, Director and Head of the Bristol Office at LCP UK — part of M Core, the owners and managers of the retail park (which the company has rebranded as M Parc Fforestfach) — said the lettings reflected a strategy of attracting well-loved, high-quality brands to strengthen the park’s appeal.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

18-hour queues as Popeyes opens in Swansea
The Oxford Street opening that turned into a regional event.

Fried chicken frenzy as Popeyes lands in Llanelli with 14-hour queue
The Llanelli opening that confirmed the boom wasn’t just a Swansea phenomenon.

Slim Chickens to open new Swansea restaurant on Wind Street
The second American fried chicken arrival on Wind Street in four months.

Nando’s eyes new restaurant at Parc Fforestfach retail park
Our October 2025 report when planning documents first revealed Nando’s plans.

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LLANELLI: Forget the Scarlets — Llanelli has just been crowned the home of Wales’ second best Nando’s

Llanelli has long had reason to hold its head high — the Scarlets, the mural, the seaside. But now there’s a new entry on the town’s list of achievements: the second best Nando’s in Wales.

That’s according to a new study by BingoWebsites.org.uk, which crunched Tripadvisor review data for every Nando’s in Wales and ranked them by the percentage of customers who rated their visit as “excellent”.

Llanelli’s branch came in at 42.7% — with 85 of its 199 Tripadvisor reviews awarded the top score. Reviewers were full of praise, with mentions of “amazing service”, “vibrant ambience” and a “spotless restaurant”. Not bad for a peri-peri chicken chain on a retail park.

Only Newport got close — the Friars Walk branch topped the table with a 50% excellent rate from 112 reviews. After that, Llanelli is comfortably clear of the rest of the pack.

Swansea has two branches in the rankings, and neither can quite match their Carmarthenshire neighbours. The Morfa Retail Park branch came sixth with 38.1% — though that figure is based on just 21 reviews, making it one of the smallest samples in the table, so perhaps a pinch of peri-peri salt is needed there.

The City Gates branch tells a different story — with a much more substantial 250 reviews, it came ninth with 30%. A larger sample, but a noticeably lower satisfaction rate.

That makes Llanelli more than 12 percentage points clear of Swansea’s better-reviewed branch. A gap even the most diplomatic rugby fan would struggle to ignore.

Further down the table, Cardiff’s three branches — Mermaid Quay, Old Brewery Quarter and St David’s — all sit in the lower half, clustered around the 27-30% range. Bridgend and Merthyr Tydfil brought up the rear, with Merthyr finishing bottom of all 14 Welsh branches with just 23.9% of its reviews rated excellent.

The study was carried out by analysing Tripadvisor reviews for all Nando’s locations listed on the chain’s website. Branches with no Tripadvisor page or zero reviews were excluded — which accounted for Cardiff Capital Retail Park.

Matt White from BingoWebsites.org.uk, who commissioned the research, said the 26-point gap between Newport and Merthyr showed how difficult it can be for national chains to deliver a consistent experience across every branch. “The results suggest that customer experience at Nando’s can vary significantly across Wales,” he said.

For what it’s worth, Waterloo in London topped the UK-wide rankings with a 94.3% excellent rate from 53 reviews. Nobody in Wales is troubling that particular leaderboard yet — but Llanelli, at least, is flying the flag.

And the chain itself clearly hasn’t given up on south Wales. Plans have been lodged to open a new Nando’s at Parc Fforestfach Retail Park in Swansea, taking over the current Card Factory unit and potentially creating 40 jobs — which would give Swansea a third branch and push the city further up any future rankings.

Of course, the ranking comes at a time when eating out is getting harder for everyone — restaurants and customers alike. Llanelli has felt that pressure as much as anywhere.

The Tinhouse taproom on Murray Street closed earlier this year after the owners cited mounting hospitality costs. Ali Raj and the Bryngwyn closed on the same day in a blow that left customers heartbroken. And the Sandpiper faced an outpouring of community anger when Whitbread announced it was among those earmarked for closure.

So while Llanelli’s Nando’s clearly has plenty of fans — the data says so — the wider message is simple enough. Use it or lose it.

Llanelli’s hospitality scene

Two much-loved Llanelli restaurants close on the same day
Ali Raj and the Bryngwyn both shut their doors simultaneously, leaving customers heartbroken.

Much-loved Llanelli taproom The Tinhouse to close as hospitality pressures mount
The Murray Street taproom became the latest victim of the cost pressures hitting hospitality.

‘A bombshell for all concerned’ — community rallies to save the Sandpiper
The campaign to save one of Llanelli’s best-known pubs after Whitbread earmarked it for closure.

Four local restaurants face closure as Whitbread axes up to 3,800 jobs
The national picture behind the local closures.

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