FDI: RC Cola Group begins operation in Nigeria, assures on quality products
More foreign direct investments (FDI) entered into Nigeria during the third quarter to boost the ailing manufacturing sector.
Latest in the row is a leading global bottling industry, the makers of Royal Crown (RC) Cola, an international brand in beverages, with presence in about 65 countries.
Explaining reasons for investing in Nigeria during a recent dealer forum held in its operations office in Agbara, Ogun State and tour of the factory site, the Managing Director, Moshy Cohen, said the company has been in existence since 1905, in 65 countries around the world.
According to him, “It’s a brand that has a successful taste for many years, with more than 110 years. We have a long legacy and are very proud of our recipe. One of the major components of the company is quality, ranging from the building and lines. We have constantly checked the quality. Our local partners here are the best you could find in the world, best innovative line with the highest speed that the industry can offer as well as the world standard. It’s all about training and quality.”
Cohen averred that Royal Crown Cola was born from the efforts of a young pharmacist in Columbus, Georgia, USA after a disagreement with a local soda bottler, Claud A. Hatcher, who began creating his own soft drinks.
He said the pharmacist would never in his wildest dreams imagine that his experiments would become an American icon affectionately nicknamed RC Cola.
Royal Crown’s first aluminum cans, 16oz bottlers, low-calorie and caffeine-free diet sodas have maintained the same spirit of innovation established by its founder over a century ago and grew so successful to become a part of American popular culture featured in magazines, movies, and television shows.
The Head of Commercials, First Beverages Limited, in an interview noted that “The reason why we are gathered here today is because today makes a month and six days we started selling in Lagos, so we wanted our dealers to see where we are operating and to give them confidence level. One thing we have done within a month is to penetrate the market, getting the right distributors and retailers and to the final consumers who from our findings love the product so much. As a company we want to make sure that dealers get the right profit, such as offloading or moving from one point to another.
During the tour, the Plant Manager, Jide Aweda, said, “The idea of getting a factory like this, a packaging company in Nigeria, is because this factory was built for 11 lines. We decided to take the franchise ownership. RC Cola is not new in Nigeria; it was here some years ago. We need a product that can compete relatively or favorably well with other equipment brands, that was why we went for it. So RC Cola is not new just that it’s new in Nigeria.
“From the great taste people have attested to, that’s why we started ahead of the peak periods to invest in the machine to meet up with the demand of the customers,” Aweda said.
