Target: Nando’s Group Holdings Ltd / Nando’s International Holdings
Audit Phase: V-MIL — Military Forensics
Date: 2026-05-01
No public evidence identified that Nando’s holds, has held, or has sought any defence contract, tender award, framework agreement, or memorandum of understanding with the Israeli Ministry of Defence, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), Israel Prison Service, Israel Border Police, or any other Israeli state security body 1. No such relationships appear in any publicly available procurement database, government gazette, or corporate disclosure reviewed during this research.
Nando’s does not appear in SIBAT (Israel’s Defence Export Directorate) listings 2, international defence exhibition catalogues (including Eurosatory or DSEI exhibitor registers), or any Israeli or international defence procurement registry in connection with state security contracts. No corporate press releases, government announcements, or defence trade press reports (including Jane’s or Defense News) document defence cooperation, joint ventures, or formal partnership agreements between Nando’s and any Israeli defence entity.
Nando’s is a restaurant chain and branded food-service group — its commercial footprint is confined to civilian retail hospitality, branded condiments, and franchise licensing. This corporate profile does not intersect with the categories of entity typically identified in direct defence procurement records.
No public evidence identified that Nando’s manufactures, sells, or licenses any product with a recognised dual-use designation or a militarised variant. Nando’s product portfolio consists exclusively of food-service items: peri-peri sauces, marinades, restaurant meals, and packaged condiments 3. No ruggedised, tactical, mil-spec, or defence-grade product variants have been identified in any corporate catalogue, trade filing, regulatory disclosure, or press report.
The question of civilian-to-military product distinction is not applicable given the complete absence of any identified dual-use product line. Similarly, no export licence applications, end-user certificates, or government export control reviews related to Nando’s sales to Israeli defence or security end-users appear in any publicly available jurisdiction register — including the UK’s SPIRE strategic export licensing system 4, South Africa’s National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) records 5, or EU dual-use export control databases.
No public evidence identified that Nando’s manufactures or supplies heavy machinery, construction equipment, vehicles, or civil engineering products of any kind. No verified reports, photographic evidence, NGO investigations, or UN documentation place any Nando’s-owned or Nando’s-supplied equipment in Israeli settlements, along the separation barrier, at military checkpoints, or at any military installation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory or within sovereign Israel.
This section is not applicable to Nando’s on supply-chain grounds: the company operates exclusively in the food-service sector and maintains no known supply chain in earth-moving machinery, armoured vehicles, construction plant, or related categories relevant to settlement infrastructure or barrier construction. No verified contracts for the construction, maintenance, servicing, or expansion of checkpoints, detention facilities, military bases, the separation barrier, or settlement infrastructure were identified 6 7.
No public evidence identified of any supply relationship between Nando’s and Israeli defence prime contractors — including Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, or IMI/Elbit Land — in any supplier directory, corporate filing, or investigative report reviewed during this research 8.
The question of component-level supply integration is not applicable. Nando’s does not produce optical systems, electronic sub-assemblies, propulsion components, structural materials, guidance systems, communication modules, armour materials, or any other category of input relevant to Israeli defence prime supply chains. No joint development programmes, co-production agreements, technology transfer arrangements, or licensed manufacturing agreements between Nando’s and Israeli defence firms were identified in any publicly available source.
No public evidence identified of any contract to provide catering, transport, fuel, waste management, facilities maintenance, telecommunications, or other support services to IDF bases, military training facilities, detention centres, or Israeli security installations 9.
Israel Franchise Operations: Nando’s has operated franchise restaurants in Israel under a local franchise agreement. The franchise model means that individual Israeli franchise operators bear primary responsibility for site selection and local commercial relationships. No evidence has been identified that any Israeli Nando’s franchise site is co-located with, or contractually services, a military installation. No public evidence identifies any Nando’s or Nando’s-franchised restaurant as located within the West Bank, the Golan Heights, or East Jerusalem, nor any restaurant operating under a contract that services IDF installations.
Retail Product Distribution: The specific distribution chain for Nando’s branded retail products sold through Israeli supermarkets has not been fully determinable from available public records. It is not possible on the available evidence to confirm or exclude whether any institutional volume purchaser of Nando’s products in Israel includes military catering units; however, no positive evidence of such a relationship has been identified.
Shipping & Freight: Nando’s is not a shipping, freight forwarding, or port services operator. No contracts specifically servicing Israeli defence logistics or military cargo were identified.
No public evidence identified of any Nando’s role — as prime contractor, sub-contractor, licensed manufacturer, or component supplier — in the production, integration, maintenance, or logistics support of any weapons system, armoured vehicle, tactical drone, naval vessel, missile system, or other lethal platform.
No public evidence identified of any government decision — in any jurisdiction — to grant, deny, suspend, or revoke an export licence for Nando’s products to Israeli military or security end-users 4 5.
No investigations, citations, or enforcement actions related to Nando’s compliance with arms embargoes, export control regimes, or sanctions affecting defence trade with Israel appear in any regulatory record reviewed. Nando’s operates across multiple jurisdictions with active export control regimes (including the United Kingdom, South Africa, Portugal, and various EU member states), none of which have produced publicly accessible enforcement or compliance records linking Nando’s to controlled goods destined for Israeli defence end-users.
No court proceedings, judicial reviews, or legal challenges brought against Nando’s — or against any government authority regarding a defence supply relationship involving Nando’s and Israel — were identified in any publicly available legal database or press record.
NGO & Academic Reports: No public evidence identified that any major NGO investigation or academic study specifically addresses Nando’s in the context of a military, security, or dual-use supply chain relationship with the Israeli state. Nando’s does not appear in the Who Profits database as of the most recent available training data 1. It does not appear in entries on the AFSC “Investigate” platform relating to Israeli defence-sector involvement 8. No reports from Amnesty International 6, Human Rights Watch 7, Corporate Occupation, or Profundo specifically name Nando’s in a military supply chain context.
Boycott & Divestment Campaigns: Nando’s has been the subject of consumer-facing boycott calls on social media following October 2023, framed around its Israeli franchise presence and participation in the Israeli commercial economy generally 2. However, no organised institutional BDS campaign specifically targeting Nando’s on the grounds of defence-sector activity has been identified in published BDS Movement campaign literature, USCPR campaign materials, or major NGO-backed divestment drives 2. The consumer boycott activity that has been documented relates to its restaurant presence in Israel as a commercial entity — not to any documented military or weapons-related supply relationship.
No institutional divestment decisions by pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, or endowments citing Nando’s defence supply have been identified. No corporate response specifically addressing defence-sector allegations — including contract terminations, end-use monitoring commitments, or revised procurement policies — has been documented 3.
Corporate Statements: Nando’s issued general statements regarding its Israel franchise operations in the context of the post-October 2023 conflict environment. These statements addressed commercial restaurant operations; none specifically addressed military or security procurement relationships, which is consistent with the absence of identified procurement relationships in the primary evidence record.
The following lines of inquiry remain genuinely open and could not be resolved due to live search unavailability and the inherent limits of training data on private commercial relationships. These represent open gaps rather than affirmative or negative findings:
https://www.bdsmovement.net/get-involved/what-to-boycott ↩↩↩
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data ↩↩↩
https://www.gov.za/about-sa/national-conventional-arms-control-committee ↩↩↩
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-system-of-apartheid/ ↩↩
https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution ↩↩
https://www.nandos.co.za/about/our-story ↩
https://sibat.mod.gov.il/en/Pages/default.aspx ↩
