The Nation Newspaper

Tag: counterfeiters

  • Police, HP swoop on counterfeiters

    HEWLETT-Packard (HP) and men of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have identified and closed down over 12 criminal operations, trading in counterfeit cartridges across the country.

    The police raided counterfeiters’ hideout in Lagos, Edo and Rivers states, as well as Abuja.

    The sites included stores and hidden manufacturing sites for fakes with 67,000 illicit print cartridges being impounded.

    HP’s Director, Global Anti-Counterfeit Programme, Glenn Jones, warned of the dangers counterfeiters posed to users.

    He said: “Counterfeiting is a crime. For users, such illegal imitations can cause a multitude of problems that can cause performance and reliability issues.

    “Should your printer break because of using counterfeit printer ink or toner, you could also have issues with your manufacturer’s warranty becoming not applicable.

    “In contrast, original HP products are designed to meet HP’s strict quality and reliability standards, based on a long history of inventing and testing. Original HP LaserJet and HP inkjet cartridges, unlike counterfeits, benefit from superior performance and consistent results.”

    Jones said the firm is proud of its continued work with local authorities, especially the police in Africa, to combat the sale of counterfeit print supplies.

    He added: “We thank the Nigeria Police for its cooperation and swift action in this successful seizure and its determination to arrest and prosecute counterfeiters who break the law.

    “Through our unwavering efforts and commitment to removing counterfeit products from the market, we continue to focus on the protection of our customers through our Anti-Counterfeiting and Fraud Programme.”

    Jones said across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), over the last five years, approximately 12 million counterfeits and components have been seized by local authorities, supported by HP.

    He said the firm had conducted over 4,500 audits and inspections of partners’ stocks or suspicious deliveries to customers.

    Through HP’s Anti-Counterfeiting and Fraud (ACF) Programme, it educates its customers and partners to be vigilant against fake printing supplies.

    It also cooperates closely with local and global law enforcement authorities to detect and dismantle illegal operations that produce counterfeit HP printing components.

     

  • NAFDAC wants stiffer penalty for drug counterfeiters

    The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has proposed stiffer penalty for drug counterfeiters in the country to serve as a deterrent to others.

    its Director General, Prof Moji Adeyeye, made the call in Abuja yesterday while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    Adeyeye noted that the provision of the law for drug offenders prescribed weak penalty, stressing the need for review of such law.

    She said the agency had presented a bill to the National Assembly demanding for more punitive punishments for those involved in illicit and falsified drugs.

    “Fake and illicit drugs kill people and the judgment the offenders usually get is so insignificant when compared to the level of the offense committed.

    “Getting judgment of months or two years’ imprisonment is not enough.

    “We must do everything possible to get a law in place that will recommend stiffer penalty for drug counterfeiters,” she said.

    The agency’s director general noted that food and drugs were too important in human life to toy with.

    She pledged that NAFDAC would ensure that those dealing in fake and illicit drugs in the country would not go unpunished.

    Adeyeye said the agency was more determined and committed than ever by putting necessary measures  in place to save the life of the nation.

  • ’It’s tough battling product counterfeiters’

    ’It’s tough battling product counterfeiters’

    Aare Fatai Odesile, Managing Director/Chief Executive, Grand Oak Limited, in this interview with Daniel Adeleye, speaks on the challenges of the spirit and wine manufacturing companies in Nigeria, amongst other related issues. Excerpts:

    Menace of product counterfeiting

    Counterfeiting is as old as human existence itself. And one of what we can call security items in the world is how people fake it. And what we look at is marketing opportunity because for people to attempt to imitate you, it means you are successful. We see that as a success prize that man has to pay. Therefore we take serious steps to tell consumers through packaging education. We have some clear identified signals. Take Seaman Schnapps as example, we have some holograms and massive cross examinations by way of poster, radio, television for people to identify the original one. Because if you look at distilleries industries, it’s more challenged as far as we’re concern, given the nature of the industry itself. And what do I mean, if you take a bottle of coke or a bottle of beer, you’ll need to return it as a retailer. You need to take your empty bottles to buy the new one. But in distilleries, it’s a single trade bottle, which means that if you buy Schnapps for instance, you take it to your house, you drink it and because of our people’s habits to throw things in the garbage, and some people are now specialised in picking those used bottles, recycling and sell to those who fake it. And because it’s alcohol, it’s stable, but it’s still not the right thing. So we do a lot of consumers’ education for people to identify the danger of consuming all those fake products. We’ve been taking steps to let people know how to identify the originals. There are people genuinely buying fake and they don’t know. To those categories, we have tried as much as possible to educate and use distribution, to ensure availability and communicate very well. And those who also know it is fake and they buy it and why because they probably want to use it as gifts, to those who may not know the difference. For those who are buying unknowingly, we are doing everything to educate them in collaboration with the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON). There are lots of collaborative efforts to safeguard our consumers from taking fake products unknowingly.

    Experience with the Nigerian market

    There are some categories of Nigerians, who are just genuine consumers, and therefore without knowing it, they go into it and they buy it. But there are some groups, deliberately buying even when they know it’s fake. My own experience with Nigerians is very simple, if you are able to convince a typical Nigerian about the danger, particularly what is going inside his system, average Nigerians still care about their health to a large extent. So my experience about this market is that typically, 70/80 percent of Nigerians do care about what goes into their mouth and if well convinced, they are willing to dump things that are likely to harm them.

    Success strategies

    Yes, you are right, Nigeria Distilleries Limited is one of the pioneer distilleries company in Nigeria. And this company has been in production and sales of wine for so many years. Some of us grew up to know about Seaman Schnapps. One of the successes of Nigeria and Grand Oak Limited is consistency of quality. In spite of all the economic challenges, we have stayed through the qualities of these brands. We have also been in a brand company, brand development, brand marketing, consumer focus and so on. For instance, if you look at schnapps market, Grand Oak Limited was the first to introduce a third class of the schnapps. Prior to that initiative in 1999/2000, when you want to do your cultural prayers, you want to pour libation; it was customary at that time to look for any available glass. It was initiative of Grand Oak Limited, Nigeria Distilleries we introduced a brand called Schnapps 2000. That Schnapps 2000 was done at the approach of 21st century. Since then, everybody keyed into that. We pioneered schnapps one litre. When you take a bottle of schnapps and pray into that bottle, everybody wants to take from it, and the former bottle posed a limitation. So that is what led to the birth of Schnapps one litre pack which is very successful. If you look around, we are the first person to introduce bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a lot of people are also using glass bottle 20cl. Some years ago we look at what the direction is and most of our brands like Regal 12cl, Dark Sailor, all went to PET and everybody followed us today. Even the sachet is also our initiative; we know that a lot of consumers desired the taste of good thing. They want the quality schnapps, they want the Lords gin, but the purchasing power was not there. So they are only to pay for a level, so when positioning the quality of the brand and equity of the brand, we also introduced a top quality sachet that’s consistent with the brand now affordable to the majority of Nigerians. So innovation is one of our key strength and we are also consumer-centric. We are doing quite a number of things based on consumer insight and of course, on the level of quality irrespective of the challenges in the environment. So I could attribute our success to all that and ultimately, our people. Because machine cannot operate itself, you need people to drive the brand and to drive the quality. This is a family environment where everybody sees themselves as a member of family unit. And we all work towards the consumers’ expectations.

    Using media to revive ailing business

    Bacchus tonic wine is still a formidable force in the market. I can simply say that in a tonic wine category today, it’s still the only brand. I mean we have some other brands come and go and don’t forget that consumers fashion trend also changes. With the advent of red wine which was not there before, it does give some challenge to the blend red wine which Bacchus is. But I can tell you that there are some layers of consumers that still enjoy the vitamins and nourishment of Bacchus tonic wine. And it’s still doing credibly well; it’s one of the brands that have survived decades. It’s still one of our targeted marketing, because of our positioning at wedding trains. If you attend marriage in the Registry today, you’ll see Bacchus there. It’s part of the requirements for those who want to get married in the court today. So we leave it there to keep on satisfying that market. Notwithstanding the emergence of red wine culture in Nigeria we still do not want to disappoint those who enjoy the vitamins, the tonic properties and the nourishment of Bacchus. So it’s still there and what we now do is a lot of experiential activities that meet the consumers at the point of their needs.

    Game plan for the future

    We remain focus on drinks, and like I was talking about red wine, as long as it’s drinks that would be our focus. It could be alcoholic and non-alcoholic. But we want to be playing in drinks market substantially. We have more than enough segments to remain on these different strata within drink business.

    Operating environment

    It’s challenging because the bulk of our materials on alcohol are still imported. There are still some imported companies that run in this economy, they know what effort has been made but then they know there is no alternative returning. Knowing that forex is still high, although there seems to be stability today unlike when the rate was fluctuating. Of course, that has also given rise to salary agitation by staff, because everything has gone up, your staff spend more as such they have to fall back at you. And unfortunately, at the end of the day, the consumers out there will not be able to buy at that price. So while there are pressures internally, there is limitation externally affected by the purchasing power of consumers. But we are remaining truthful to our words; we will not compromise in all aspects. Well margins are becoming very slim, and that is one major impact on business because we don’t want to compromise on our quality. But as long as the business is going and the consumers are happy, we’ll remain in this business.

    Battling economic crunch

    Well that is a perception. But if it is true at all, it would be mainly among the low earned products. Because those who have no money, yes they still want to get high, and some of them do find solace in all this regional local brands. There’s a lot of movement towards fraternising where instead of going to buy a bottle of beer, and before you can satisfy yourself you have to take like three bottles, but you can come together and buy a bottle of Lords dry gin for instance and by the time they finish it, they are already high. So there is this convergence among friends who go out and have fun. So that movement is happening. However, that’s not to eliminate the low-earned of the market. So to some extent, yes, but then it depends on your target and the kind of people you go after, and the reason for consumption.

    Toughest business decision

    One of the toughest business decisions is convincing my colleagues on the board that we have to remain true to our vision and mission, which is to offer quality brands at a good money proposition to the consumers. And that has led to some decisions that I look inward and discontinue some imported input materials. It was a tough call because you also need to carry out a lot of extensive research to be sure that what the locals are offering will not compromise your brands or will not let consumers down. It was a tough call because some of those materials were imported but to come back and be using locally-sourced materials was a decision that we have to take collectively early 2016. It posed a lot of challenges because only the quality differences are there but kudos to the local industries because they’re also rapidly mopping up and improving on their ability and also business suffered a lot of contractions in 2016. Nigeria was in recession and the turnover crashed and of course some jobs, because of the luxurious ways of our lives, when things are going on well, there are so many jobs that could outsource, but because things are rosy they find their way. So we have to do a review of what are priority jobs, and what are the jobs that could be outsourced. And that was also a very tough call. But outside of that, I think we are getting back.

    Managing workforce

    Yes, there is laid down disciplinarian procedures. There is what we called, Employee Handbook. At the resumption you are taken through the handbook to familiar with dos and don’ts of the company and the punishment attracted if you do the don’ts. Don’t forget we are also a unionised company, one of those very few companies in Nigeria that is fully subscribed to union both at the national union and that. We are always engaging with the union, so they know what we are doing. They know the rules and they know when you go against the rules, the handbook has already signed all of that. So it could be a warning letter, it could be suspension. But to be honest, we have few of those cases, because there are forum periodically where staff are collectively gather together and we discuss. Every member of staff is free to ask the Managing Director whatever you think you need to know and there is no consequence for that. There are few of that but administrative procedures take care of that.

  • SON, product counterfeiters in battle of wits

    SON, product counterfeiters in battle of wits

    The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) is not resting on its oars in its quest to rid the nation of substandard products judging by its relentless drive against fakers, reports Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

    There is no doubt that the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has recorded some modest successes in its fight against product counterfeiters. Despite some of its successes, it is not resting on its oars just yet. Little wonder, it has continued to take the battle to the doorstep of fakers.

    A case in point is the recent clampdown on eight blocks of flats in the Kirikiri area of Apapa, Lagos filled with expired products.

    The SON Director of Monitoring and Compliance, Bede Obayi, an engineer who led the operation and who later took journalists round the vicinity, said the agency swooped on the place based on intelligence report.

    “You can see the volume of expired products here and imagine the implication for our society in terms of health issues,” said Obayi, with an unmistaken apprehension in his voice.

    Raising some posers, he said: “When somebody buys expired cream, what does it show? You are applying cream that the active ingredient has gone and that may cause reactions on the skin. SON has discovered eight flats where expired products are repacked for sale.

    “More importantly, you are dealing with products that children use. Look at baby diapers that expired in 2015. Imagine what a product that expired in 2015 will do to a baby if used in 2017.”

    Obayi further observed the four-storey building of eight flats with the toilets, bathrooms and all available spaces were filled with expired products.

    “Look at this wrapper for disinfectant. What they do is to pick the expired ones and use this wrapper with new expiry dates to wrap it. When you have the old products inside this wrap that carries 2018 as expiry date, you will not know you are buying cloned products. The products have lost their active ingredients and efficacy,” the SON official lamented.

    Following a recent intelligence report the SON stormed a warehouse in Badagry Lagos, where substandard tyres valued at over N5b were stocked. Two Chinese nationals, Taolung Shen and Xu Jing Yau were arrested in the process.

    The suspects churned out the substandard tyres into the Nigerian market under brand names such as Powertrac, Aptany, Harmony, Duraturn, Bearway, City Tour, Winda, Glory, Chachland, City Grand, Grandsonte and Sunny.

    According to the SON, the suspects brought the substandard tyres into the country by stuffing them into one another.

    “Sometimes as many as five tyres were stuffed into one and the tyres have bent and ruptured in several places, thereby looking weak and slack.

    “But the Chinese adorned the tyres with new labels and shinny linings to create the impression of being new and healthy,” SON said.

    Some of the tyres found in the warehouse had post-dated manufacturing dates.

    For years, the country has been battling the spectre of substandard products, with many counterfeit and expired products finding their way into the nation’s market.

    This is even as report revealed that more than N5billion is lost annually to the substandard goods as the country is regarded as one of the biggest markets for fake goods.

    “The effect of these products on the country is devastating. Buildings have collapsed, so many lives have been lost due to consumption of fake and substandard products,” a visibly angry Obayi submitted.

    Between 2015 and 2016, states like Lagos recorded multiple incidences of building collapse, a development, many buildings and construction engineers blamed on the usage of substandard materials.

    While the challenge facing the SON is enormous, the recent mantra of the agency to consolidate on the gains made so far through effective engagement, monitoring and enforcement of the SON Amended Act 2015 seems to be yielding results judging by recent breakthroughs in the campaign against dangerous and unsafe products.

    Thankfully, since resumption of office as the Director General of SON, Osita Aboloma had said he would try to consolidate on the gains so far made by the agency.

    He had insisted that “when you adhere to standards, your products will be trusted and your businesses will grow.”

    SON, he said, would continue to propagate national and international standards through adoption and diligent implementation in both the public and private sectors.

    “To this end, we have over the years developed competencies in various international management system and standards. These include quality, environmental, food safety management, among others. All are aimed at national capacity development and certification of systems for continual improvement,” he said.

    The new vigour to enforce the SON mandate has indeed started yielding results.

    He said by stuffing the tyres into one another and conveying them through the sea from China to Lagos, the quality of the tyres had already been compromised.

    “The SON Directorate of Compliance intercepted one of their trucks on the highway, tracked and then confiscated it. “You can see the amount of danger that these people are posing to our people and our economy just because they want to make huge profits at the expense of the lives of Nigerians.

    “It is a clear case of investing millions in illicit business in order to destroy the lives of millions of Nigerians. If we allow something like this, it will amount to killing Nigerians,” Aboloma maintained.

    He said there would be no hiding place for people who deal in adulterated products in the country.

    Aboloma advised users of automobile tyres nationwide on the need to be extra-cautious when making purchases of such products. It is in the light of all these that the SON faces a herculean task although some analysts claim that it is to their credit that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

    Like an assiduous worker who has his hands on the plough, the SON DG has since constituted a steel monitoring task force to rid the market of substandard iron and steel materials.

    The agency believes that sanitising the iron and steel industry in Nigeria is key just it hopes that the rampant building collapse in the country which is as a result of substandard building materials will be a thing of the past.

    Aboloma noted that the agency while creating a conducive operating environment for steel production must also ensure that companies comply with the set standards.

     

  • NB urged to protect Ace Root against counterfeiters

    NB urged to protect Ace Root against counterfeiters

    Trade partners of Nigerian Breweries (NB) have urged the company not to be carried away by the success of its new herbal brand, Ace Root. It should redesign its label to protect the brand from counterfeiters, they said.

    The trade partners who spoke after  unveiling Ace Root in Ibadan for the west regional market for NB, said with the unique selling point the brewery is offering to the market against its major competitors, the labeling of the product needed to be improved in order to insulate it from imitation.

    ACE Roots is brewed with African herbs, fruits and spice extracts with low sugar.

    The Managing Director, Victoria Adebayo & Sons Limited, (one of NB’s major distributors) Mrs. Victoria Adebayo, said while the taste and after-drink experience of the brand is good, the product labeling and packaging should be guarded.

    NB’s Zonal Business Manager (West),  Mr. Opeyem Oluwalusi said since the product was launched in Lagos, the brewery has been recieving concern about counterfeiting.

    He said the submission by the trade partners in Ibadan is not a surprise, adding that the firm is currently addressing the issue of labeling in order to sustain the momentum enjoyed by the product.

    NB’s Sales Director, Herbert Eze said the drink has been received with enthusiasm across the country.

    According to Eze, other strong points of the include the fact that a lot of research went into it.

    He said:“ACE Roots is the result of a painstaking customer research which Nigerian Breweries carried out. We have discovered that in addition to being young, ambitious and enterprising, today’s consumers are also African. They do not just live in Africa, Africa lives in them as well and they want some African in their food, fashion, music and drink.

    “We decided to create a product which combines all that this consumer wants and ACE Roots is the result. We have also faithfully adhered to original African recipes in the choice of fruits, herbs extracts and spices used for the drink.”

  • Under counterfeiters’ threat

    Under counterfeiters’ threat

    Alomo Bitters a herbal gin reported to have libido enhancing power is produced in Ghana, but makes huge sales in Nigeria. The manufacturer is worried that the product is being adulterated by those making a kill from it. Now, the company’s plan to have a factory in Nigeria is under threat, writes ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI, who toured Kasapreko facility in Ghana.

    They are the fastest bottling lines built by Krones, a German packaging and bottling machine manufacturer, for liquor production in West Africa. The two Krone installed-returnable lines produce 30,000 bottles of liquor per hour; while the non-returnable Poly Ethylene Teraphthalate (PET) line distills 40,000 containers hourly.

    “It is the fastest spirits line Krones ever installed anywhere in the world,” the company’s founder/CEO, Kwabena Adjei, told The Nation as he walked through the production lines on a newly-built cantilever hall, measuring 100 x 44 metres.

    Inside the courtyard of Kasapreko facility, in Accra, Ghana, heavy trucks from Nigeria line up on the dusty road leading to the company. Loaded with Alomo Bitters, with each carton weighing 5.2 kilogrammes, the trucks embark on the 500 kilometres journey to Lagos through Achimatan, a Ghana border town, to Togo and Benin Republic, where it has been enjoying skyrocket sales over the years. “Nigeria is the second-biggest market for Kasapreko, with almost 40 per cent of its sales finding their way over the border,” one of Adjei’s salesmen whispered on the sideline of the facility tour.

    The crave for this product by Nigerian consumers is not unconnected with the aphrodisiac qualities that it holds for men and women. “Nigerians mix the beverage with non-alcoholic beer. The supposed sexual enhancing properties hit the right buttons in Nigeria,” says an expert from Euromontor, a market intelligence platform.

    Thrilled by the success the product enjoys in Nigeria and the growing demand by other countries, Kasapreko Company bought two new Krones lines in December 2012 to deepen its market penetration. However, with the level of investment, cutting-edge technology, Adjei is not happy with the dwindling market share in the world’s next global frontier for investment —Nigeria. As he addressed a group of journalists from Nigeria inside its boardroom where he displayed over 15 herbal brands produced by the company, and samples of the fake Alomo Bitters, his voice quivered. Looking at the sales chart from the Nigerian market going down drastically, his once-upon-a-time fears stared him in the face.

    With the realisation of what he dreaded most, his future plan to move his production plant to Nigeria may suffer a hitch with the current challenge his premium brand is facing there.

    “Per market share has dropped drastically in Nigeria because of counterfeiting. When I started, I vowed that I will never operate in Nigeria because of faking. But we came to Nigeria. Our business was doing well until now when counterfeiting started destroying our brand,” Adjei said.

    Alomo Bitters which according to findings was being smuggled into the country from Ghana before the product got NAFDAC registration in Nigeria now has properties of its brand architecture being copied. From label, container, logo, artistry, colour, brand name, some of the fake brands bear semblance with the Kasapreko Alomo Bitters. Besides, the fake products come with 100ml instead of the 200ml produced by the company. As a result, an unwary consumers might not notice except skeptic one. “In Nigeria, people copy our mould, label, crown logo, cock crown. We don’t produce 100ml but 200ml. So, we don’t know how our product is now 100ml,” he said.

    The reason for this is understandable. Alomo is a product of research and it is blended with plant extracts that has been used for medicinal purpose. While its Research and Development teams have sound and trained trado-medical practitioners, Kasapreko brags with the fact that seven of its product herbal properties are also extracted from world 3500 documented extracts. “Alomo Bitters offers so many health benefits. We picked seven out of 3500 documented extracts by world research books for herbal plants. One of them is Mahogany which is used for treating fever. It boosts immune system. It also helps sexual lifestyle base on another properties. It also works for other health issues. These are claims that can be substantiated. There are clinical researches to back these claims. These were tested on animals and it’sscientific basis established. So, Alomo Bitters has gone through scientific evidence,” says Research and Development Manager, Mr. Steven Osafo-Mensah of Kasapreko.

    Little Wonder, the product is said to have been researched to cure piles, body pains, menstrual pain, enhancing easy blood circulation and boosting of man power. With the ability of the brand to enhance libido in particular, its faking soared. The product led a chain effect, propelling some Nigerian companies to invest in the bitters business, producing, brands, such as, “Koboko”, “Atekanle Gbongbon”  “Osomo” “Pasan.”  The brand names of the made in Nigeria original herbal gin is derived from misinterpretation of the Ghanaian ‘Alomo’ which to an ethnic group in Nigeria, Yoruba, means “a Casanova or philanderer” – A smooth-talking charmer who has mastered the art of finding, meeting, attracting and seducing beautiful women into the bedroom. The names of these brands produced in Nigeria arrogates erectile ability functional value of this product whereas Alomo Bitters means friendship in Ghana. “We call our product Alomo Bitters. Alomo in Ghanaian language means friendship,” Adjei said. As a result, the product since it came to Nigeria, gained wider market acceptance and it has stopped from being faked.

    With the level of investment in production, research and development, manpower and taxes to government, Kasapreko’s Alomo Bitters is produced in small rooms and shops on the streets of Lagos. The counterfeit products  bearing Alomo Bitters value creation and brand identity are: “The Prince Alomo Bitters”  and “De Kings Bitters”, They have the originals’ brand identities, such as colour, label, logo and label information in an attempt to dwindle the product’s market share which in 2011 and 2012, according to Kasapreko hovered around 80 per cent of the bitters market which value stands at N32.2 billion.

    But they have not escaped the law. The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has arrested two brothers, Henry and Ekene Ezeani for alleged illegal manufacture and sale of fake alcoholic beverage, “The Prince Alomo-Bitters.” The agency’s operatives in Lagos impounded N25 million worth of the product during the raid. NAFDAC’s spokesperson Anslem Okonkwor said the suspects were part of a syndicate that specialised in producing fake brands of beverages, which had been under the agency’s surveillance. “A team of NAFDAC officials led by Mr. Joseph Asikpo apprehended them while they were producing the fake products in their residence at 140, Ojora Royal Compound, Coker Village in Lagos,” Okonkwor said.

    This development scared Adjei. He believes the intake of the fake Alomo Bitters by Nigerian consumers is dangerous to their health. The fake bitters, he believes,are   mixtures of chemicals that can cause arm to the health. This was proved by a recent test carried out by The Nation. In the investigation and laboratory test carried out by Saturday Nation, some consumers of these herbal gin had their blood sampled and the paid lab experts who conducted the test on behalf of The Nation discovered heavy metals such as cardinum and lead in the sampled blood of consumers of fake herbal gins. Although, some of the original herbal gins tested in the labby The Nation also recorded same dangerous properties but Kasapreko’s Director of Quality Assurance and Research and Development, Dr. David Kamau said there must be holistic approach to producing herbal gin in order to avoid the health risk herbal gin pose to consumers health. “Herbal consumption is dangerous to health though there must be holistic approach to usage. If you don’t source your plants from the right source, you might have contamination case. If you don’t have expertise, the consumers health is at risk. We have been able to establish the toxity range in therapeutic index such that if you overtake it we know what can happen to consumers. So, moderation is needed in usage,” says Kamau.

    Despite doubts about its expansion plan in Nigeria Kasapreko has found a way to protect Alomo Bitters with a new hologram that will cost a fortune to fake. According to him, the security will involve four levels all in an attempt to ensure that the consumer gets the right quality product. “We have all heard about words like brand protection. We over a year ago took a journey to Germany and came across Hologram Company, the Sleeve Seal Company, to help us protect our brand. We know that fakers will try to confuse the consumers with fake holographic seal but ours is so sophisticated and consumers will be able to identify the original from the fake,” said the company’s Director of Technical, Holograms and Security Checks, Mr. Kwame Dickson.

    However, Adjei regretted that the faking of the product because of its success and health benefits had brought the equity of the brand down. “If we don’t fight the fake, we are hurting the government because fakers don’t pay tax. We are harming the consumers because fakers don’t use good product. Some of these fake products have been tested in our laboratory and I tell you that the result is shocking and unhealthy to consumers,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the Marketing Manager of Alomo Bitters in Nigeria, Mr. Peter Adegor, said the company is happy with the economic collaboration between Nigeria and Ghana. He gave examples of many Nigerian banks, telecoms and other businesses that are flourishing in Ghana just as the Kasapreko flagship brand Alomo Bitters is maintaining its leadership of the bitters category in Nigeria despite growing competition. He stressed that since Alomo Bitters led the way for other bitters to come up, Kasapreko feels a sense of responsibility to educate the drinking populace to be careful and wary of sub-standard brands out there in the market.

     

  • How product counterfeiters ruin export market

    For local manufacturers, business has been anything but good, no thanks to the nefarious activities of product fakers, who in recent times have proliferated the export market, thereby ruining the chances of genuine manufacturers as well as loss of billions of naira, in terms of revenue earnings, to the country. Making this disclosure recently in Lagos was the Chairman, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) Export Promotion Group, Mr. Tunde Oyelola. The event was at the interactive session between the management of MAN and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC). According to Oyelola, although made-in-Nigeria products have competitive advantage in the export market, fake products being exported from the country remains the greatest source of nightmare to genuine manufacturers, who have been at the receiving of this bludgeoning trade in fake products. Speaking further, he said the major challenge faced by exporters in Africa was the high cost of logistics in the region. He, however, called on all concerned stakeholders to come together to ensure that they remain focused and unrelenting in order to achieve the export trademark which is transnational; while also delivering quality services across all the sectors in order to achieve socio- economic development in the country. Echoing similar sentiments, the Director-General, MAN, Mr. Rasheed Adegbenro, observed that internal markets are shrinking every day, urging the stakeholders to endeavour in bringing new challenges to the business environment. He said although Nigeria is not alien to the export environment, a lot still needs to be done in terms of value addition, adding that lack of proper implementation of the right policy was the bane of export market. The influx of substandard products, he stressed, “has contaminated the system because of corrupt practices.” In his remarks, Mr. Aliu Mohammed Lawal, Acting Executive Director, NEPC, while acknowledging the challenges being faced by exporters, however, assured that his agency was desirous of encouraging stakeholders in the non-oil export market.