Seasoning

…surge in demand, multiplicity of brands

…bright investment outlook

Chidi Aja

It is said that a woman can get the heart of her man through his stomach. This means cooking the man delicious, finger-licking meals. At the heart of this good cooking are seasonings.

The Farlex Free Dictionary defines seasoning also called seasoner as something that enhances the flavour of food. Indeed, seasoning is key to cooking in Nigeria as no cooking is complete without the addition of one form of season or the other.

Seasoning belongs to the food and beverage sub-sector of the consumer market, which BGL research and intelligence estimates to worth about N14.7 trillion.

Food condiments and seasonings are in high demand in Nigeria. It is estimated that the total national demand for various types of food condiments and seasonings in Nigeria is about 5,475 tonnes per annum.

Seasonings include local and imported brands. Popular local seasoning in Nigeria includes Ogiri, Dawadawa, Iru, and Okpeyi. Because of their make-up, local seasonings are considered highly proteinous and medicinal. They can be used singly to cook special variety of soups or combined with bouillons. For instance, among the Igbos, Ogiri is used to cook bitter leaf soup while Iru or Dawadawa is used in cooking egusi soup. Besides the local seasonings, there are several brands of food seasonings readily available in the open market, in-street shops, and supermarkets. They include Maggi, Knorr, Royco, Doyin, Jumbo, Suppy which are in cubes; Onga, Mixpy, Benny-the powdered seasoning or the Monosodium Glutamates (MSGs): A-one, Vedan, Aji-no-moto, Sasa, and Tasty King.

After more than 50 years of the introduction of branded seasoning in cubes and powder in Nigeria, the potential of the market has maintained a continuous growth, attracting more brands from outside the country. As in the case of other consumer-oriented products, the traditional markets play and important role in the distribution chain of seasoning in Nigeria.

Current market trend

The market leaders are Maggi made by Nestle Nigeria Plc and Knorr and Royco Made by Unilever. According to a market report on food season by ValueFronteira, Maggi has become a generic name for seasoning products in the market, essentially because of the early introduction of the brand into the Nigerian market fifty years ago.

“It is therefore not strange to hear most Nigerians asking for “Maggi” when the actual understanding is to buy a brand of food seasoning and not necessarily the Maggi brand. At this point however, further clarification is often needed to identify the particular brand that is wanted,” the report notes.

The presence of numerous brands has instigated a big market competition, forcing players to adopt different strategies to have a larger chunk of the market and build brand loyalty. In this game, the multinational major players with their financial might and research capabilities have the edge. Not only have they made huge investments, they have also revamped older brands and introduced new additions, various reward systems and TV game shows, aimed at maintaining their market leadership.

For instance, Nestle Nigeria Plc invested N12 billion on its Flowergate factory at Ogun State. The factory, which is Nestle’s 27^th in Africa, has been projected to further strengthen Nestle Nigeria’s role as the largest culinary manufacturing operation on the African continent.

The immediate past Managing Director, Nestle Nigeria, Martin Woolnough, had said at its commissioning that “with this new facility, Nestle will double its production of culinary products in Nigeria and meet the growing demand for MAGGI products in Nigeria and other countries in the Central and West African Region.”

Nestle has also revamped Maggi and introduced new additions like iodine fortified Maggi, Maggi Chicken, Maggi Crayfish, Maggi Golden beef and Maggi Mixapy (classic and ginger/garlic, to give customers a wide variety of choice and further enrich their cooking.

Uduak Bassey, category business manager, Nestle Nigeria Plc, explains that these new flavours will bring additional choice and excite the taste buds of Maggi consumers who have remained loyal to the brand because of the value it offers and the unique taste it brings to their cooking.

Maggi, Bassey added,  has over the years become part of Nigeria’s cooking culture, delighting consumers with such quality products as Maggi cube (popularly called Maggi Star), Maggi Chicken, Maggi Crayfish and Maggi Golden Beef, all of which have made cooking a worthwhile experience in almost every Nigerian household.

By the same token, Unilever Nigeria introduced two new additions to the Knorr and Royco family-seasoning powder for stews and soups, to give Nigerians women better aroma and taste from their everyday cooking.

Unilever says it has continued to improve on its brands because of the need to always provide consumers with products that help them get the best out of life, stressing that the decision to come to market with the new offerings was in response to consumers’ yearnings for affordable and more improved seasoning for cooking.

According to the Knorr product information, the new Knorr seasoning powders have been formulated with 16 of the finest ingredients to bring out the best taste in every pot, while providing great nutrients for good health. The natural ingredients included pepper, onions, ginger, garlic and parsley.

“With the new seasoning powders, women now have brilliant opportunity to enjoy the consistent superior Royco quality, as well as an irresistible aroma from their cooking,” Unilever stated.

The company expressed optimism that the new products on the fortune of the brand in the market would further increase the brands’ market share and give them competitive advantage.

Technology for production of local seasoning

The argument against local seasonings is its lack of refinement and sometimes putrefying odour. But not anymore as the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO) has developed a process technology for the production of dawadawa from Soybean, a more readily available and nutritious raw material. ‘Dawadawa is the Hausa name for fermented food condiment made from locust bean. It is also known as “Iru” and “Ogiri-Igala” in Yorubaland and Igboland respectively. Dawadawa is one of the most important traditional food condiments in the Savanah region of West and Central Africa where the locust bean tree grow abundantly,’ the institute explains.

‘It is a protein-rich substitute for the local dawadawa made from locust bean. This is suitable for use as food condiment and could be used as substitute or in combination with other food condiments such as Curry, Thyme, Maggi, Royco and other brands of food condiments in the Nigerian market.’

 The institute says that one of the major reasons for the interest in soy-dawadawa is because the locust bean tree from where the locust bean for “iru” production grows in the wild and its gradually going into extinction due to the fact that there is no conscious programme for planting this economic tree.

FIIRO has therefore drawn up a profile that provides first-hand information on the prospect of investing in commercial production of Soy-dawadawa, stating that the technology is available for transfer to interested entrepreneurs through the Institute’s technology transfer training programme. 

Growth potential of seasoning industry

According to BGL Research and Intelligence, the Food & Beverage industry is one of the most globally competitive industries – dominated worldwide and in Nigeria by a handful of multinational companies.

‘In food and Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) the growth dynamics for Africa’s largest nation by population remain very encouraging. With incomes rising and more people able to afford goods, there is a lot of room for growth and in reality only the surface of this potential has been scratched. Nigeria ranks second in Business Monitor International's recently launched Food & Drink risk/reward ratings for Sub-Saharan Africa behind only South Africa and comfortably ahead of the other growth economies.’

‘A positive outlook is forecast for consumer goods in Nigeria during 2008-2013. One of the main contributory factors will be the country’s political and economic stability. Higher disposable incomes and increasing company advertising are expected to boost value growth. The average Nigerian will spend more on packaged food, especially on items previously regarded as luxuries. Value growth will also benefit from the increasing sophistication of Nigerian consumers and improving product quality. The consumer goods sector is a major part of the manufacturing sector in Nigeria. And like all other manufacturers, the consumer goods industry is characterized by low valued added production.’