Stakeholders in the retail food business on Wednesday met in Lagos to identify the challenges currently being faced by supermarkets and other operators in the country.

They met at a one-day conference on “Nigeria’s Retail Food Development” organised by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Speaking at the forum, a representative of Chellarams Plc, Mr Ashwin Balani, said that his organisation was currently facing the challenge of expired products from supermarkets and other retailers.

“One of my organisation’s challenges today is the return of expired products by supermarket operators after they must have expired on their shelves.

“There is also the problem of inefficient supply chain management. Supermarkets do not place orders for retail food products on time,” he said.

The Human Resources Manager of Justrite Ltd, Mr Kadiri Agbola, also said that there was the problem of lack of product awareness among some supermarket operators.

Agbola also identified “product consistency by suppliers” as another major challenge facing the business.

Mrs Chukwuma Ogonna of Grand Square SMK and Stores, Abuja, however said that some Nigerians were always coming for expired products in her supermarket because of their cheapness.

Mrs Margaret Eshiette, Head of Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Food and Codex Department identified lack of awareness on the Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MONCAP) as another challenge.

According to her, supermarkets are not expected to receive products that do not carry the MANCAP logo.

USDA’s Regional Agriculture Counsellor, Mr Kurt Seifarth, said the conference was organised to sensitise participants on the need to create and sustain superior performance in Nigeria’s retail food businesses.

Seifarth said that his government was prepared to support Nigeria’s priorities in the development of her agricultural products.