Strong fears of possible price hike have engulfed the marrows of regular consumers of products of Chi Limited products in Nigeria following the announced completion of the acquisition of Chi Limited by Coca-Cola group. Chi Limited was founded in Lagos in 1980. It produces juice under the Chivita brand, Caprisonne and value-added dairy under the Hollandia brand.
The US owned global soft drink giant, had in a statement midweek, explained that it has extended its minority investment in the company to full ownership.
Business Hilights recalls that in 2016, the Coca-Cola Company had acquired a 40 % minority stake in Chi and expressed interest in increasing ownership within three years which it has done now.
According to the president of the West Africa business unit of the group, Peter Njonjo, “Coca-Cola is continuing to evolve as a total beverage company, and Chi’s diverse range of beverages perfectly complements our existing portfolio, enabling us to accelerate expansion into new categories and grow our business in Africa.”
“We will support the Chi management team in building on the company’s remarkable heritage and achievements while using the scale of the Coca-Cola system to replicate their success in more markets across Africa.”
Njonjo averred that “We realise that in certain pack formats you can only go down so low. But once you start looking at pouches and still products, like juice and drinking yoghurts, that allows you to start accessing much lower price points.”
“Affordability will start becoming a bigger issue in this market than it was in the past. As a company, that is what we need to factor in as we are thinking about the future of our business in Nigeria,” he noted.
