Coca-Cola: after FG Certification, what next?

The crisis between consumer rights and the Coca-Cola Company and its bottling subsidiary, Nigeria Bottling Company (NBC) is not new to followers of events in the Nigerian beverage market. Just recently, the Coca-Cola brand was in troubled water when Justice Adebayo Oyebanji of the Lagos High Court, Igbosere gave a judgment ordering the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), to instruct the Nigerian Bottling Company, to issue out a warning to Nigerians that drinking either Fanta or Sprite with Vitamin C, is poisonous.

The Judgment was the outcome of a suit filed by a businessman Dr. Emmanuel Fijabi Adebo, CEO of Fijabi Adebo Holdings Limited. Dr. Adebo in his case asked the court to compel NAFDAC to carry out its role, which includes routine laboratory tests on all the soft drinks and related products of NBC to ensure their safety for human consumption.

Despite the popular interest in the issue, it was resolved in a suspicious manner. Within a few weeks, the issue has created many problems for Fanta and Sprite brands and their bottling subsidiary, Nigeria Bottling Company (NBC). For Coca Cola brand, the crisis was the peak of its crisis in the Nigerian market. Before now, the name of the arguably world’s no 1 brand had come up in a few scandals. Its crisis is not however limited to the local market.

This, according to some analysts could be linked to the traditional arrogance of the brand. For instance, Coca-Cola was the leading soft drink brand in India until 1997 when it temporarily lost the market because of its decision not to reveal its formula to the government and reduce its equity stake as required by the Foreign Exchange Regulations Act. Finally, Coke returned some years later which ensured that Coke was now the leading soft drink brand of the world. From 1993-2003, they invested more than US$1 billion in India, making it one of the country’s top international investors. Similarly, an embarrassing public relations disaster in Belgium few years ago cost one of its largest bottling operations $103m (£66m) while its mid-European bottle venture revealed a surprise 5% fall in first half sales. Also, the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Enterprises, the bottling arm which distributes Coke in the UK, France and Belgium, had sometimes revealed that 17m cases of Coke had been recalled after the contamination scare, which spread from Belgium across Europe. Although the explained that this was less than 1% of its total annual volume, the $103 million lost was almost double its initial estimate.

Meanwhile, The Federal Government had recently declared that products of the Nigerian Bottling Company, NBC, including Sprite and Fanta safe for human consumption even as it encouraged all bottling companies in Nigeria to insert advisory warnings on their products as necessary. These are contained in the findings of a report issued after a meeting of the Department of Food and Drug Services, Federal Ministry of Health, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) in Abuja. In a statement, the Federal Ministry of Health, FMOH, noted: “Yes, the Coca-Cola products manufactured in Nigeria are safe for consumption taking into consideration the environmental, storage and distribution conditions as well as the shelf life of food products.”

The statement, signed by the Director Press of the Ministry, Mrs Boade Akinola, said the risk assessment report conducted to ascertain maximum limits of food additives acceptable in foods showed that the levels of benzoic acid in Fanta (1 batch) and Sprite (2 batches) presented by the claimant in the court are 188.64mg/kg, 201.06mg/kg and 161.5mg/kg respectively and are in compliance with both the Codex and Nigeria Industrial Standards.

Though the issue has been resolved, there are insinuations in some quarters that some influential people within the public and corporate Nigeria played significant roles to ensure the problem is nip in the bud. With the way the issue was resolved, it is believed that another effort to make consumers get respect from manufacturers has been frustrated.

Speaking on this issue to Daily Times, the convener Consumer Advocacy Foundation of Nigeria (CAFON), Sola Salako said, until there is a proper legislation backing the Nigerian consumers, they will continue to fall prey in the hands of manufacturers and service providers who are predominantly driven by profit.

According to her, consumers on the other hand, should learn to take responsibility for most of their action. In Nigeria, most of what brand does is subtle marketing and consumers will buy into without firsthand information.