The Nation Newspaper

Category: Shopping

  • Now that the holiday is over

    Now that the holiday is over

    With Easter holiday over, parents who are not technology-savvy, might pay heavy price when shopping for ‘back to school items’ for their  kids. But with some mobile phone apps, shopping could be as simple as ABC. TONIA ‘DIYAN reports.

    Easter is over. Shoppers are back from holidays. It is time for the children to return to school with new stuffs. For parents, its shopping time to prepare the children for the new term.

    But with office work piling, house chores mounting, cash problems, this is not always an easy task as the agony of traffic, among other factors often make going to the market an horrible expereince.

    Technology-savvy shoppers always have a way out of the guagmire. With their mobile phones, they can shop in the comfort of their homes without hassles.

    Secret. Smart phones and tablet owners are using mobile apps and daily deal sites to get the most out of their money as they shop school items for their wards.

    Offline Manager, Jumia Online Store, Mr Afam Anyika, said experience by shoppers on Jumia shows that parents who are smarter search for promos on e-commerce sites in order to enjoy great shopping experience at a discounted price.

    ”We stock a variety of back-to-school items and they are quite affordable. We advise shoppers to check our website for our coupons and daily deals and take advantage of these offers because; they are only available while stock last.”

    Afam confirmed to The Nation Shopping that 40 per cent of mobile shoppers who have used their device on his website, indicates that they have obtained coupons.

    He said: “Coupons are preferable, they are won mostly by regular shoppers to a particular website, followed by deal-of-the-day or daily deals, where shoppers have the opportunity to see what is on discount on a daily basis.

    “Daily, on the Jumia website, we have 70 per cent of our users looking to our daily deals offer for promotions.’’

    In addition to ‘back-to-school’ offers, daily deal apps are a helpful source for mobile users looking for discounted items this period, they can be sure of not missing out on offers as they unfold daily if they stick to the online stores.

    Online retailers are busy promoting back-to-school sales and stocking their websites with school items, such as calculators, school uniforms, sandals, lunch boxes and what have you. No doubt, it’s time for serious business for parents, guardians and sellers.

    Smartphone owners are dominating in the daily deal app usage, beating other phone users across all daily deal apps used said, Konga’s Public Relations Strategist, Ifeanyi Abraham. “When it comes to seeking out deals, consumers are going to the most convenient, reliable sources, creating an opportunity for retailers and daily deal sites to streamline the process of gathering deals and coupons for users, ultimately increasing website and app traffic to drive back to school sales.”

    The Executive Buyologist of Buyology.com, Yeye Arogundade, said coupon is the most widely used daily deal app among users of the apps.

    She said: “With 61 per cent users on my website indicating that they have used the coupon app on their smartphones and 39 per cent stating they’ve used it on their tablet, ‘back to school’ sales is amazing.”

  • Plazas, malls: preferred outlets for merchants

    Plazas, malls: preferred outlets for merchants

    Old retail market setting is losing its merchants to shopping malls, complexes, plazas and ultra-modern markets where shoppers now prefer to shop for convenience, TONIA ‘DIYAN writes.

    Prior to the entry of foreign retailers into the retail market, Nigerians did their shopping in small retail outlets and road-side make-shift shops.

    But all that is now changing with the coming of South African, Asian and Middle-Eastern retail giants operating chains of supermarkets in well established plazas and malls, across the length and breath of the nation.

    Since making inroads into the country, creating unique offerings which shoppers hardly enjoyed in the past, the retail mall business has continued to attract more merchants who believe that setting up sales-shops in the malls will drive their business better and faster.

    From grocery, clothing, food, beauty places, healthcare to children’s corner, fashion, night clubs, bars and more, observers of shopping mall business believe these facilities have become a hub businesses are rushing to in order to connect with shoppers who have become used to the retail mall shopping experience. As a result, the excellent service delivery in all areas, impressive architecture, adoring interior as well as good maintainance culture of the malls, have become an allure to merchants who are gradually quiting the old retail places for the new system.

    With big departmental or high street stores as the anchor tenants in major shopping malls today, the availability of effective e-payment systems, stable and uninterrupted electricity supplies have also been highlighted as the reasons merchants chose to sail with the global wind.

    “They create an environment where retailers and shoppers prefer to buy using credit or debit cards instead of carrying around loads of money. Merchants are assured of necessary infrastructure to support a cashless society when in any of the modern facility,” a merchant affirmed.

    For Adenike Ogunlesi, owner of Ruff ‘N’ Tumble, an indigenous company that specialises in children’s clothing, a merchant’s presence in a modern shopping facility is one major strategy to attract customers and make more sales.

    She said: “Regardless of the exorbitant rent charges these facilities extort from us, more merchants swim like bees to these places not only for profit making, but because of the societal value attached.”

    She added that her decision to move to malls was not sudden as she had been on the streets for long before becoming a brand name in the fashion industry. “I started selling from the boot of my car in 1996 before I became a brand name. Ruff ‘N’ Tumble used to be a tiny shop that has turned into an instantly recognisable brand situated in major malls. These malls have built a reputation for my brand over the years,” she said.

    The former Broll head, Mrs Gbadebo Erejuwa, attested to the fact that the demand from retailers to have a presence in any of the modern facilities is high with merchants coming in all the time.  She also said the design of these facilities meets international building regulations.

    He said: “Ideally, today’s shopping facilities cater to all levels of ambulant and visual ability, they cater for children and are easy and cheap to maintain.”

    When President Goodluck Jonathan opened an ultra-modern market in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) some years ago, he described it as the lifeline of every economy. He said his administration was poised to doing all in its powers to ensure that markets across the country are modernised with good facilities to complement the urban needs. The ultra-modern market, located in the Wuse District Zone of the FCT, occupies a large expanse of land and is said to be the first of its kind in West Africa. It was constructed under the ‘build, operate and transfer’ (BOT) arrangement.

    Also, during the inauguration of Sapon Ultra-modern Market in Abeokuta recently, Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, said the new project boasts of facilities comparable to those in developed countries. He planned to replicate similar structure in major cities across the state.

    In Ekiti State, the government said it will construct a modern neighbourhood market in each of the 16 local government  headquarters in the state.

    The Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Paul Omotosho, said the initiative is to boost economic activities in the state. He added that the design of the markets ensured security of lives and property with the provision of perimeter fence and gate house in each of the markets.

    While some global retail chains are struggling to have footprints in malls, The Palms, Ikeja City Mall, Ceddi Plaza, Polo Park, Kwara Mall, Grand Towers Abuja Mall, Ado Bayero Mall in Kano, the Festival Mall in FESTAC, Jabi Lake Mall in Abuja and Delta Mall in Warri,among others, are running out of space to accommodate new comers.

    As a result, some property investors are working hard to ensure that more malls come in.

  • Konga takes e-commerce education to radio

    Konga takes e-commerce education to radio

    •Partners Lenovo for phone launch

    This year has seen confidence in online shopping grow among Nigerians with more Nigerians shopping online. But to sustain this trend, there is a need for more education on the benefits and ease of shopping online.

    This is why Nigeria’s Largest online mall and marketplace, Konga.com is partnering with the producers of dusnumberries, a show on Cool FM radio station every Monday and Friday mornings for a special section called “the Konga Marketplace”. Every week, Nigerians will have the opportunity to win shopping vouchers in fun and informational games like tongue twisters while also getting online shopping tips and exclusive discounts available on Konga.

    Konga has also entered into a partnership with global computer makers, Lenovo, to launch a new range of mobile phones and tablets all running on the android platform. The Lenovo S650 phone come in great colours and friendly prices for the Nigerian market.

    Commenting on the partnership and the launch, Head of Marketing Konga.com, Gabriel Gab-Umoden said: ”We are excited about the different partnerships we have lined up this year. Every new step we take is part of our goal to create happy experiences for every one of our customers. A big part of our mission this year is to educate more Nigerians about the joys and benefits of shopping online and we believe this new partnership with Dusnumberries will help achieve this.

    ”Lenovo is a recognised device maker and we are happy they have chosen Konga as the platform to exclusively launch their new devices.’’

  • ‘I don’t shop where Nigerians shop abroad’

    ‘I don’t shop where Nigerians shop abroad’

    Kenny Ogungbe with his partner Dayo Adeneye changed the face of entertainment in Nigeria. Keke, as he is fondly called worked with the Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation (OGBC).

    He also worked with Africa Independent Television (AIT) before co-founding Primetime Entertainment, Kennis Music and Afrisat with his partner Dayo.

    On one of the social media platforms, Kenny spoke about his uniqueness in shopping.

    He said: “I have never shopped in Nigeria because I buy for the future. I am a Boy Scout. That does not mean I disrespect Nigerian shops though. I like unique things. Even when I shop abroad, I don’t go to places where Nigerians go to buy. What I buy might look the same with other people’s own, but it is not that same texture.”

  • South Africa’s spaza shops suffer as big retail rolls in

    In this corner of South Africa’s black township of Soweto, the biggest building used to be the Catholic church. Now it’s been overshadowed by a shopping center and business has only gotten worse for Grace, a 68-year-old shop owner.

    Like many proprietors of spaza shops – the informal stores that dot township corners – Grace barely manages to keep afloat as more of her neighbors head to the mall.

    “Once people get paid, they buy their groceries at the malls,” she said, sitting among dusty shelves of tea-bags, small packets of biscuits, loose cigarettes and butter.

    “They used to buy their groceries from us. Now they only come for daily items,” she said, declining to give her last name.

    Grace has been running the shop with her husband since 1993, the year before South Africa’s first all-race elections. They used to earn around 1,500 rand ($140) a day, but are down to a third of that now.

    During apartheid, blacks were crammed together in squalid townships miles away from cities. Some residents began to sell staples such as maize meal and cooking oil out of their own homes. The informal stores became known as tuck shops or “spazas,” a slang word that connotes “just getting by”.

    Along with shebeens, or corner taverns, spazas are one of the most visible parts of township life, and a major component of South Africa’s vast informal economy.

    While recent data on the informal economy is hard to come by, a 2002 study by the University of South Africa’s Bureau of Market Research (BMR) estimated that spaza shops brought in around $705 million a year, employing up to 290,000 people.

    Those numbers will have come under pressure over the last decade as real estate developers and big grocers such as Shoprite and Pick N Pay push into black areas, targeting rising consumer spending.

    Getting the cake

    South Africa’s emerging black middle class grew at annual 6.5 per cent between 2001 and 2007, according to the BMR, which estimated the growing socio-economic group at 9.3 million in 2007, out of a total population of around 50 million.

    “The emerging consumer market has been very, very good for construction of retail outlets in non-traditional locations,” said Mike Upton, chief executive of South African building company Group Five.

    “It’s kind of like first mover gets the cake.”

    Grocers have been big beneficiaries of this broadening wealth.

    Shares of Shoprite, Africa’s top retailer, have more than trebled over the last five years, lifted by a push into sub-Saharan Africa and previously underserved South African markets. The Cape Town-based company’s no-frills Usave discount outlets pose a major threat to spaza shops.

    The warehouse-like stores appear tailor-made for low-income customers: most of the laundry soap is for hand washing, not machines. Some dispense with large parking areas as customers come on foot.

    The only milk available is full cream – no skim, organic or soy – while bags of frozen “walkie talkies” – chicken heads and feet – are plentiful and cost just 10 rand.

    In Soweto, a flashpoint of the anti-apartheid struggle, where stone-throwing black youths battled heavily armed soldiers and police with their snarling dogs, the 65,000-sq-meter Maponya Mall is one of several shopping centres that have sprung up in recent years.

    Just down the road from Regina Mundi church where former President Nelson Mandela is depicted in stained glass, the mall boasts a Pick N Pay hyper-market, more than a dozen restaurants and a Virgin Active gym.

    Although still poor, Soweto is unmistakably on the rise, evidenced by the growing number of tidy brick bungalows and shiny Toyotas, and even the odd BMW.

    While recent data is not available, Rose Nkosi, the head of the South African Spaza and Tuckshop Association, reckons that the sprawling black township alone may have lost around 30 percent of its spaza shops since 2005.

    That’s bad news for the elderly or those who live far from a shopping center, Nkosi said.

    “Spazas are community shops,” she said, pointing out they sell in small amounts, such as half loaves of bread, to meet the needs of the poorest customers.

    Economies of scale

    The big retailers are able to use economies of scale to undercut spazas, which usually buy in small volumes and from wholesalers, driving up costs.

    Nkosi has teamed up Songi Pama, an entrepreneur and consultant, to bring spaza shop owners together to buy direct from suppliers such as South Africa’s Tiger Brands and the local units of Unilever and Nestle.

    The survival of spazas is critical to the fabric of the townships because so many of the owners are women, Pama said.

    “The little that they get out of these outlets they use to feed their children and take their children to school.”

    Too few owners are real businesspeople, said Noel Ndhlovu, who publishes industry newsletter Spaza News. Most are just looking to make enough get by, he said.

    “Unfortunately, the bulk of spaza shops, about 60 or 70 percent, are survivalists. And because they are survivalists, they don’t have skills – no business skills, no financial literacy, nothing.”

    In one workshop he ran, Ndhlovu said it took him several sessions to get some of the owners to understand how to work out their gross and net profit.

    Not far from Grace, middle-aged Vincent Jonyane leans out the window of his tin-roof shop and laughs. Business is good, he says. While elderly rivals are stuck in the past, he is thinking of expanding his wooden shack.

    “I’m still young, I know where to buy things cheap,” Jonyane said, pointing to stacks of eggs in cardboard cartons on a shelf.

     

    •Source: Reuters

     

  • Shoppers storm malls for Easter

    Shoppers storm malls for Easter

    The tempo of activities in and around most shopping places across Lagos has been on the increase this past week because of the Easter celebration, reports TONIA ‘DIYAN.

    EASTER is here again! Celebrated every year by Christians world over in commemoration of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Easter is the most significant holy season, which starts with the Holy Thursday, culminating in Good Friday, the day of crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and Easter Sunday when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Christ.

    Though a holy season,  which offers Christians the opportunity to reflect on God’s fulfilment of his covenant through the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Christians across the world take time off to observe the celebration with pump and pageantry. It is indeed, a season of immense splendour, as people use the opportunity of the public holiday to meet their friends, relatives, and loved ones to relive cherished moments amid feasting.

    Alongside the usual get-together, merry-making, and social networking, most people find grocery shops and entertainment/fun spots interesting places to be. Expectedly, there has been upsurge of social and economic activities in and around shopping complexes and fun spots across the Lagos Metropolis. Several gift shops parade varieties for the celebration. Many high street shops visited by The Nation Shopping have an array of lovely Easter themed items such as the Easter gift basket, handmade or personalised gifts, photo gifts, beddings and bath, baby gifts, accessories, personalised jewelry, and Easter crafts, among others.

    On account of the upsurge in social and economic activities in and around these places in the last couple of weeks, there has been an upward adjustment of prices of consumer goods and other gift items. Already, there has been intense competition among shopping malls and gift shops. To these shopping outlets, festive periods such as Easter is an opportunity to make more money. In Lagos where most residents are already in Easter celebration mood since last week, human and vehicular traffic has picked up around most grocery shops, as shoppers storm the place despite the slight adjustment in price of items.

    A consumer, who was at The Palms in Lekki, Victoria Island, Lagos, Thomas Chike, said it is during festive periods such as Easter that businesses boom hence, retailers usually take advantage of the opportunity to make more money. He said, “Whenever it is time for one celebration or the other, I notice some changes in the prices of items, reduction in the quantity or changes in the quality of some consumer products. And I suspect it is just an avenue for these retailers to make more money”

    Chike’s wife who was with him at the mall, noted that shopping places are good at luring people during festivities. “Shops have one strategy or the other to entice customers. If they are not reducing prices, they are giving out free items or introducing innovations different from what customers are offered before the celebration.” she said. Indeed, increase in prices of commodities always pinch shoppers at every festive season, which is why to most consumers, prices of most needed goods are often increased for traders’ selfish gains.

    Secretary, Daleko Market, Mr. Biodun Amuwa, attributed the increase in prices of items during festivities such as Easter to the deplorable state of Nigerian roads, hike in transport fares, and pump price of fuel, among other things. He said that the high cost of items has nothing to do with festive seasons. “People only misunderstand things. Even when prices are stable but quantity is reduced, they still attribute it to the festive season. Traders can only sell what they buy,” he explained.

    Confirming this, a rice dealer at the market, Mr. Musiliu Gbadamosi told The Nation Shopping that the constant increase in the prices of rice is caused by high transport fare as well as the increase in demand by the people. According to him: “The increase as you have observed isn’t our making and we are not happy about it, because many people believe we normally increase the prices to make more gains during festivals. It is not so. We do not just increase prices of goods just like that; the problem is that during festive periods, there is increase in transport fares in conveying these goods from the north to Lagos.”

    Mr. Gbadamosi also said the current scarcity of fuel in the country has not helped matters. “We all know the fuel crisis in this country and for us to cover the unit cost of these goods, including the transport fares, we have to increase their prices so that we don’t lose,” he emphasised.

    However, most Lagosians are not deterred by the high cost of food and gift items. The Nation Shopping found that there has not been any significant drop in patronage of these food and gift items, as shoppers say they have to feed and share gifts as part of the Easter celebration. Some food stuff traders confirmed that business is booming and more people are coming for foodstuffs as they can’t do without it, whether during festivity or not.

    To get round the issue of high cost, Mr. Tola Odusote, a Consumer Behaviour Specialist, advised that consumers should prioritise their needs and make the best purchase decisions within their limited resources during festive periods. He advised that people should operate within the limit of their resources to avoid cash crunch after the celebration when money is always scarce to attend to family needs.

    Some shopping outlets, as part of effort to cushion the effect of the price adjustments and attract more customers, also operate discount sales, especially during festive periods such as Easter. While this may encourage more patronage particularly by customers in the lower rung of the economic ladder, the same cannot be said of high networth customers, who, despite the current hike in prices, are ready to make big purchases.

  • Leisure Mall introduces innovations

    Leisure Mall, a new mall with spectacular views and with a goal to be positioned as the destination of choice for families in Lagos -Mainland, is now linked with its immediate mall, Adeniran Ogunsanya Mall.

    The ‘link bridge’ between the malls is to take shoppers from one mall to the other without stress and hassles.

    According to the Centre Manager, Leisure Mall, Mr. Seyi Shoyinka, “The link bridge between us and our neighbour is first of its kind. It is interesting to know that this provision is available only in Mainland-Lagos.”

    Explaining the need for the innovation, Shoyinka said the link bridge is to ease movement for shoppers from one mall to the other and establish a lasting relationship between the malls.

    “To initiate an easy access between Adeniran Ogunsanya Mall and our Leisure Mall, we decided to introduce a link bridge. This initiative is hundred percent ours. Now, customers can shop between the two Malls without the hassle of driving or walking through the gates. We saw the need for a symbiotic relationship with our neighbour and the importance to make our customers more comfortable,” he said.

    He added that enthusiasm and curiosity by shoppers to visit the other mall when already in one will come to play with the newly introduced link bridge.

    “The tendency to visit the next mall is bound to happen with this innovation. Also, we want to be able to benefit from each other. There are certain facilities in one mall that are not in the other. For instance, our film house (Cinema) is unique with us as well as our major clothing outfit (Mr Price).”

    The  mall, which has been in  operation in less than two years, is said to be fast becoming the best family entertainment centre in Lagos. Surrounded with  misted glass exterior and interior open-air walkways, the mall looks more like a cutting edge modern art museum than what it actually is. It’s not surprising to know that it is managed by Broll Nigeria, the largest mall property operator in Africa who also manages the grade A malls in Nigeria. These malls are; The Palms in Lekki, Ikeja City mall in Ikeja, Bayaro Mall in kano, Ceddi Plaza in Abuja, Kwara Mall in Ilorin, etc.

    Leisure Mall houses various top brands, among whom are; Mr Price, Standard Chartered Bank, Film House cinemas, Bheerhugz Café, GNC Drugs, Accessories to die 4, Barcelos- Fast Food, Eddie kingburger- Fast Food, Easy holiday- travelling agent, Lego shop- toys, Nike- clothing, Scouzas, Deep Arg, Blucocktail, SOS, Milavin, HomeNail, Nireds, Indulgence, HitBox, Fome, River Jordan, Poise Global, and TM Lewins.

  • Supermartng.com launches in Lagos

    Supermartng.com, an online grocery and delivery service, has been launched in Lagos.

    Supermart enables customers to buy grocery items from various supermarkets on its website. The fact that customers are shopping from recognised supermarkets gives them an assurance about the source of what they are buying.

    Prior to starting Supermart, the co-founders, Gbolahan Fagbure and Raphael Afaedor were the Chief Operations Officer and Managing Director at the online retailer, Jumia.

    Gbolahan said: “We have worked very hard to build a service we believe will add a great deal of convenience to the lives of people who prefer not to spend hours driving between various supermarkets, looking for parking at busy supermarkets and waiting on queues to pay for their shopping.”

    According to Raphael, “knowing that customers typically go to multiple supermarkets to complete their grocery shopping led us to develop this service. Supermart allows customers easily add items from the multiple stores into one basket and pay once. For the first time in Nigeria, customers will be able to select when their order is delivered to their homes or offices, which can be in as early as three hours.”

    Supermart’s emphasis on providing superior customer service means that its team of personal shoppers who pick items for customer orders are carefully selected and well-trained to ensure they are selecting the freshest of what customers order. At the end of the chain are the delivery drivers who equally go through rigorous training prior to joining. “Our drivers are friendly and will carry your groceries all the way to your doorstep even if you live on the fourth floor of a building with no elevator…they go the extra mile,” said Gbolahan.

    To offer this time-saving service, which they estimate saves customers as much as six hours every week, Supermart has partnered with retailers Park ‘n’ Shop & Spar for groceries and every day essential items. Customers can currently shop from the 18,000 items these stores have for sale.

    The service will initially be offered in Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Marina and Lekki up to Victoria Garden City (VGC) and subsequently, expand to other parts of the city.

     

  • LG delights shoppers with ergonomics

    Home appliances manufacturing giants, LG has showcased a line of new products in line with its products principle of ergonomics.

    According to the firm, the ten key principles of ergonomics are keep everything in easy reach; work at proper heights; reduce excessive forces; work in good postures; reduce excessive repetition; minimize direct pressure and provide adjustability. Others are provision of easy access; maintain a comfortable environment; enhance clarity and understanding.

    One of the products governed by these principles is its LG bedding cleaner: which it said allows consumers to exert 42 per cent less muscle use than conventional models, making it easier to pick up and operate with one hand. Tests have reported 27 per cent less human movement shown that minimal pressure on the user’s wrist and back; resulting in effortless cleaning.

    It added that the LG Kompressor Robosense Vacuum Cleaner. According to the firm, dragging a vacuum canister around the house could be cumbersome, arguing that Kompressor automatically traces the user’s path and follows at an appropriate distance. “Two breakthroughs: the automatic location recognition technology and active following wheel technology incorporate sensors located on the model’s body and handle to smoothly maintain a comfortable distance from the user.”

    “The air conditioning industry is perhaps one of the best if not the most immediately obvious examples of people-oriented technology design. Since the industrial revolution, climate control methods have had a direct impact on the people who occupy buildings and their ability to function productively within their surroundings. Researchers acknowledge that the ability to optimize environments are of great interest to society and economy and are forever on the lookout for ways of assuring human comfort and health, while reducing our impact on the environment and natural resources. The most advanced current technology powering the air conditioning industry can be found in HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) control systems. These systems utilize sensors to compare the actual state (e.g., temperature, humidity, and others with a target state. The control system then draws a conclusion what action needs to be taken,” the firm said in a statement

    With consumer research showing that smartphone owners unlock and check their devices more than 100 times a day, it said LG was inspired to take KnockON to a new level with a one-step, easy-access power on and unlocking solution. Starting with the G Pro 2, key LG smartphone models introduced in 2014 will come with Knock Code, an upgraded version of the acclaimed KnockON UX feature. Since Knock Code wakes and unlocks the phone simultaneously; it provides more convenience and greater security over conventional password and pattern-based security options. And because Knock Code can be used anywhere on the display, it’s possibly to access one’s phone without even looking.

    In Knock Code the smartphone display is divided into four invisible quadrants. The user taps or “knocks” anywhere from two to eight times in the quadrants in a specific sequence. With more than 80,000 possible combinations and no fingerprint streaks, Knock Code offers a greater level of security.

  • ‘Women and Maggi’ve come a long way’

    ‘Women and Maggi’ve come a long way’

    The new Maggi Chicken cube is the rave of the moment. Major markets in Lagos, such as Ojuwoye, Mile 12, Agege, and Ikotun, among others, now stock the new Maggi Chicken Cube.

    The brand, according to its makers, has been formulated as the best ever chicken seasoning, bringing renewed excitement to retailers and consumers. It can be used with other Maggi products, depending on which dish one is preparing. Sold for N300, the brand has a range of products within different flavour profiles to satisfy the taste of consumers. They are Maggi star, Maggi crayfish, Maggi mixpy ginger and garlic/classic/tomato.

    Some women spoke on how trustworthy the brand has been over the years .

    Mrs. Anita Chike, who has been using the brand for the past 30 years, said it is tested and trusted. “The amount of those nutrients that have negative effect on the health when consumed in excess has been completely reduced, while food components and nutrients required to maintain good health have been increased in quantity,” she said.

    She added: “We all know that fortified foods with vitamins and minerals play a key role in the prevention of micronutrient deficiencies. The brand contains iodized salt and iron.”

    For Mrs. Sumbo Ijaola, Maggi chicken has now been improved with quality ingredients to give the tastiest outcome to meals. She said Maggi now provides unmatched chicken taste, great aroma and appealing colour for all cooking. As she put it, “You have not tasted the best chicken until you try the new magi chicken cubes.”

    Another consumer, Mrs. Charity Nwanchukwu, said the brand is adapted to the Nigerian taste and cuisine, playing a critical role in the delivery of some vital micro nutrients to consumers. She said: “The salt content is more or less at par with competition and poses no health hazards, it is in moderate quantity.”

    Mrs. Aina Oluwole added that the brand provides tasty and healthy meal solutions. “As cuisine, cooking habits, and tastes continue to evolve, Maggi will be that helping hand to the woman who is the meal provider in the kitchen continually helping to create good food moments. The brand encourages the use of fresh ingredients, a good cooking habit and passing on nutrition knowledge,” she noted.

    Brand Manager, Emeka Nwodo, said: “With a vibrant, intense and rich chicken flavour, Maggi chicken not only gives consumers a wider choice of its taste, but also ensures that we satisfy the taste and need of every woman in the kitchen , which is to create meals worthy of celebration by her family and friends.’’

    Daily, 80 million maggi cubes are sold. Three years ago, a 12 billion CHF factory in Shagamu, Ogun State, was set up, bringing the number of factories in Nigeria to two, having earlier set up one in Agbara since 1981. The company has an approach to business where they work on long term partnerships with stakeholders in the community.

    The brand engages over 10,000 soya farmers, equipping them with technical know-how and improved seedlings to help them improve their yields and in turn, sell to Nestle, which the company uses to produce Maggi and a few other products.