Rite Foods Limited: Apenchant for quality, innovation and fanatical commitment to excellence-Seleem Adegunwa (MD/CEO)

Having established itself in the sausage roll space with its Rite Sausage and Bigi Sausage brands,that are well accepted by discerning Nigerian consumers against well-established brands in the market for several decades,Rite Foods Limited, a consumer-packaged goods company and major player in the competitive Food and Beverage industry in Nigeria represents the true Nigerian indomitable spirit of enterprise, excellence, innovation and resilience.

A world-class and proudly Nigerian organization has since redefined and changed the landscape since its entrance into the industry in 2008.

And coming from the tradition of excellence and accomplishment of its parent company, Ess-Ay Holdings Ltd, a holding company of many successful businesses and brands such as Fototek and Photo Palace, Rite Foods came into the Nigerian market to provide bespoke solutions to the unique Nigerian taste bud by offering high-quality food and beverage products that meet the changing preferences of Nigerian consumers.

In attestation to this, Mr. SeleemAdegunwa, Managing Director/CEO,is emboldened to say “Rite Foods meteoric success story is attributable to its penchant for high quality products, innovation and fanatical commitment to excellence which is reflected at every touch point.”Noting that this is evident in its world class production facility; acquisition of the best machinery obtainable in any part of the world; the craft that ensures taste superiority and the knack for venturing into uncharted territories through innovation.

Rite Foods launched into the beverage segment in 2016 with a Blue Ocean strategy that swept the market with its Bigi range of carbonatedsoftdrinks. For the first time, Nigerian consumers were treated to an array of choice drinks that meet their taste and diverse occasions with 13 flavours of the Bigi brand, comprising Cola, Orange, Tropical, Bitter Lemon, Lemon & Lime, Apple, Soda Water, Chapman, Tamarind, Ginger Lemon, Cherry Cola, Ginger Ale and Zero Cola.

Today, in addition to its Bigi brand, it boasts of the leading brand in the Energy Drinks segment, with its Fearless Energy Drink that pioneered energy drinks in PET bottles and its refreshing Sosa Fruit Drinks with five flavours, a market leader in its own right.

One thing that sets Rite Foods apart from competition is its disruptive approach to business; be it in packaging, marketing, innovation pipeline or route to market.

“Our culture of innovation has ensured that we delight our consumers with great tasting flavours you can get anywhere. Bigi carbonated soft drink has 13 flavours distinctively created to give an experience at every drinking moment.

Sosa fruit drink comes in five unparalleled flavours, while Fearless Energy Drink has two vibrant flavours that have become the toast of consumers at home and abroad”, Adegunwa emphasised.

He highlighted that the company is founded and built on values of Excellence, Integrity, Innovation and Accountability, revealing that “From the outset, we determined to be the best food and beverage company there could be anywhere in the world. For us, excellence is in our DNA and that is what propels us to work hard to deliver the best products to our consumers”.

In harmonisation of business with philanthropy, Rite Foods Limited continues to be a force for social good in its communities of operations.

“We have been involved in humanitarian interventions since the time of COVID-19; we have made interventions in education and youth development and indeed, in environmental sustainability. Our partnership with Pop Beach on the “Riteonthebeach” project has successfully removed hundreds of thousands of Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles from Lagos beaches and waterways while creating jobs, providing scholarships, and training hundreds of youths in coastal communities, the Managing Director explains.

In navigating through economic headwinds and fundamental restructuring that havesignificantly distorted the operational capabilities of most companies in Nigeria,for Rite Foods Limited, it is about innovation, driving efficiencies and staying close to our customers than ever before.

“This is a new government, with audacious policy thrust. The market will certainly react to changes. There is hardly any continent in the world today that is immune to headwinds. Therefore, the best way businesses should respond to the emerging landscape is to be more agile, with the flexibility to pivot strategies in response to the changing environment”, Adegunwa advised.

In efforts to prevent counterfeiting of its products, What has helped Rite Foods are technology and innovation. With technology, we embed security features into our packaging to make it difficult to copy. We pride ourselves on integrity, excellence and uncompromising quality. So, we go any length to protect the integrity of our processes and products.

However, importantly, while applying global best practices, manufacturers must collaborate with government agencies, industry associations, both for enforcement as well as consumer education and awareness.

The Food, Beverage and Tobacco Sector is Nigeria’s largest industrial sector, accounting for over 34% of the entire manufacturing sector and contributes about 5% of Nigeria’s GDP. This shows that there are limitless opportunities within the sector to serve Nigeria’s growing youthful population.

To Adegunwa, currently, most of the inputs used for production in this sector, such as concentrates and bases are largely imported thus presenting a huge opportunity for local and foreign investors. Similarly, the entire value chain is replete with opportunities; be it food processing, spare parts; renewable energy and haulage, while the large population is a comparative advantage because it provides ready market for manufacturers.

We believe with more business-friendly policies, many investors will take advantage of the huge investment opportunities in the sector to grow our economy.

On promotion of ease of doing business in Nigeria, he reasons “The best way to assess the ease of doing business in Nigeria is to look at the contribution of manufacturing to GDP and manufacturing export as a percentage of total exports.

Nigeria’s industrial sector contribution to the GDP in the last few years has hovered between 10% to 15%, whereas in Malaysia for example, industries contribute over 25% to the GDP. Similarly, Nigeria’s manufacturing export as a percentage of total export is still less than 7% in aggregate of the last 5 years, whereas Malaysia’s manufacturing export is over 70% of its total export.

“This clearly shows a lot of inefficiencies in the operating environment. The policymakers can boost the ease of doing business with enhanced transparency and accountability in all regulatory processes. This can be made possible with innovation through the creation of a single digital platform for businesses to access all necessary permits, licenses, tax payments and approvals in a very simplified format.

With a reduced number of steps and documents required to register a business, more start-ups could come on board. There will be a boost with enhanced access to finance with friendly interest rates.

“Also, there is need to streamline laws and regulations to avoid multiple agencies of government with regulatory oversight on the same issues. This would mean that the Omnibus Bill 2.0 should be fast tracked to streamline further the ease of doing business in Nigeria”.

SELEEM ADEGUNWA
MANAGING DIRECTOR/CEO