The new slogan, “Proudly-African”, adopted by Rite Foods, Nigeria’s market leader in the food and beverage industry, is the company’s strong commitment to expanding its products beyond the nation’s shores, to other African countries, as a world-class and global brand.
This was the position of the company’s Managing Director, Mr Seleem Adegunwa in a recent interview with a leading independent and international brand valuation consultancy publication.
Adegunwa, who has successfully steered the affairs of the leading company to enviable heights in the fast-moving consumer goods sector, said that, while Rite Foods started with the slogan, ‘Truly World-Class and Proudly Nigerian’, which describes the quality of what it was trying to achieve with a DNA and heritage that is completely Nigerian, the new twist shows that the brand is African based and therefore Proudly-African.
He pointed out that the move is intentional as the company’s products are not limited to the country alone, but are also available in other African countries. “We have an indigenous brand that operates on the world-class stage, so these slogans are exactly what we are, but put into words, it shows our intention of expanding across Africa”, Adegunwa said.
The company’s honcho avowed that the intention is also not to alienate other customers on the African continent. This, he said, is necessary for an award-winning company that is reputed for delivering unique products that are regarded as pacesetters in their various market segments. “The importance and value of working on them are to ensure that we are improving the brand equity, hence the need for appropriate slogans”, he said.
Against that backdrop, Adegunwa said that despite the stiff competition in the industry, the company’s product portfolio, comprising the 13 variants of the Bigi carbonated soft drink, the Bigi Table Water, the Fearless energy drink consisting of the Fearless Classic and Fearless Red Berry, the five variants of Sosa Fruit Drink as well as the Rite and Bigi Sausages, have continued to dictate the pace in the market, with their inventiveness which has earned them numerous laurels at various awards ceremonies.
He stated that the high-quality of the company’s brands with their flavours stems from the continuous innovation adopted in the manufacturing processes which are carried out in a first-rate factory with up-to-the-minute technology and a skilled workforce.
According to him, research and development are of topmost priority for the company, having led to the production of unrivalled brands that are top-notched in the sector it operates. “We do it frequently with our partners and suppliers to attain the desired quality for consumers’ satisfaction”.
The company, which is at the forefront of implementing corporate social responsibility policies for human and societal development, is currently partnering with quite a few organisations to support eco-friendly sustainability initiatives, especially in recycling polyethylene terephthalate plastic collections and also in developing recycling plants in the country.
