02-05-18

28
BUSINESS A.M. FEBRUARY, MONDAY 05 - SUNDAY 11, 2018
MANUFACTURING & INDUSTRY
La Casera: Can the ‘refresh’
launch take it back on the block?
Since its foray into the market in 2001, La Casera has managed to leverage
its brand equity to carve a niche in the carbonated soft drinks (CSD) sector
of Nigeria’s food and beverage industry. It’s renewed push to reclaim market
leadership through the re-launch of its premier brand, La Casera apple
drink has been touted to spark another round of competition in the market.
AJOSE SEHINDEMI looks at the probable outcome of the branding exercise.
Ajose Sehindemi
For investors in the Carbonated
Soft Drinks
(CSD) segment of the
food and beverage industry,
Nigeria’s estimated
180 million consumers as well as
market known for its high return on
investment (RoI) are too tempting
to ignore. This may have prompted
the entry of La Casera apple drink
into the market in 2001. And it was
an instant success.
The popular beverage, under the
Classic beverage stable, effectively
challenged the dominance of that
segment of the market by the likes
of Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and 7up. The
La Casera apple drink was the toast
of most CSD consumers until lately.
Packaged in easy-to-drink
polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
bottles, the non-alcoholic, pocketfriendly
beverage was available in
most cities across the country.
Although, the drink’s ease of purchase
and convenience of consumption
as an on-the-go CSD make it the
first choice for consumers, it was not
long before hitherto existing beverage
companies started challenging
La Casera’s unparalleled foray in
the market.
For instance, the Coca Cola
quickly rose to the occasion, first
poached a top manager from the
La Casera Company and thereafter
in October 2014, introduced its own
apple flavor brand, Fanta Apple, into
the market.
Although, La Casera was rattled
by the advent of Fanta apple flavour,
the beverage maker re-strategized to
push back competition and reclaim
its market share. Apart from investing
heavily in machineries to increase
its production line, the company in
2017 re-launched its flagship brand,
La Casera apple drink.
The move was seen by industry
operators and stakeholders as a bold
step to regain market leadership
while also stoking another round of
competition in the industry.
At the re-launch in Lagos, Roland
Ebelt, La Casera managing director,
assured all that the company has
come to stay. He said the need to
offer Nigerian consumers a fresh
new look of the product prompted
its re-introduction into the market
with more innovations.
He was emphatic that the company
wanted to reclaim its market
dominance hence it called its
friends, dealers, trade partners and
distributors together to showcase
the innovations.
At the re-launch, Vishal Kaveti,
its regional sales manager, said although,
2016 was a bad year for the
company, it has re-strategized to call
the shots in the CSD segment of the
beverage sector.
The challenges
Despite the re-launch of La
Casera, opinions of some brand
analysts who spoke with Business
A.M, called for caution in celebrating
the re-launch. They said then
that the company’s move to reclaim
2016
was a bad year for
the company, it has
re-strategized to call
the shots in the CSD
segment of the
beverage sector
them
deeper
into
the red
ocean
as the
expected
challenge
to the major
brands -
Coca Cola and
Pepsi- was infinitesimal
that the battle is between the two
major brands, teasing the consumers
in price mechanism superiority.
A survey of some of the dealers
reveal that the ‘King of the road’ title
once proudly held by La Casera is
now between the N100 Coca-Cola
and Pepsi.
That is not all. Business A.M
learnt further that part of the chalmarket
leadership might not
be a smooth ride.
They pointed out, for instance,
that the company
still has a lot to do to persuade
its consumers, especially
considering the
fact that no new details
were conveyed with the
re-launch.
“It’s the same product,
same quantity,
same PET bottle, but
different wrapper,” one
of the analysts, who declined
to be mentioned,
said.
Sikira Adenike, a dealer later expressed
concern on the possibility
of the re-launch reconnecting the
brand to its consumers and distributors.
She said that for the brand to
achieve its aim, there is need for
more assurances to its distributors.
It appears that the re-launch fun
fare and discount given to distributors
by the company to put them into
the blue ocean has actually sunk
lenges that faced the company
was the face-off between
workers and management
of the company over the
non unionisation of its workforce.
In September 2015,
over 700 workers and 600
casual staff of La Casera
Company Limited were
laid off. The labour union
forced the company to
shut down as a result.
The workers’ sack was
reportedly caused by the alleged
disruption of the company’s
operations by members
of the National Union of
Food, Beverages and Tobacco
Employees (NUFBTE), who
called for the unionisation of the
workforce.
While the management blamed
the mass dismissal on NUFBTE’s interference
and invasion, the workers
said they fell out with the company’s
management following attempts to
frustrate their decision to join the
labour union.
However, the workers were later
reinstated after a legal battle and the
company reopened.
As if these were not enough upset
for a company struggling to reclaim
its lost market position, there were
also claims that the product was unfit
for consumption as it contained
some harmful ingredients.
But the management of the company
swiftly denied the claim, as it led
officials of the National Agency for
Food, Drug and Administration and
Control (NAFDAC), the Standards Organisation
of Nigeria (SON) and the
Manufacturers Association of Nigeria
(MAN) into its ultra modern facility,
along Apapa–Oshodi expressway.
After necessary scrutiny, all the
regulatory bodies gave the company’s
product a clean bill of health.
They certified the drinks safe for
consumption and urged Nigerians
to dispel the rumours.
Will La Casera be able to remain
relevant in the CSD market and
claim market leadership as before?
Only time and a probable slip from
competition could tell.
Dangote, LafargeHolcim, join seven other cement
companies to form global industry association
Ajose Sehindemi
Dangote and LafargeHolcim,
two cement
companies with
operations in Nigeria
are among nine cement
companies around the world
that have come together to
form a new global association
called Global Cement and
Concrete Association (GCCA),
business a.m. has learnt from
information made available
to it over the weekend. The
association is described as a
progressive group dedicated
to developing and strengthening
the sector’s contribution to
sustainable construction.
The association said it
would focus on driving advancements
in sustainable
construction, working to en-
hance the cement and concrete
industry’s contribution to
a variety of global social and
developmental challenges. To
achieve this objective, GCCA
will promote the development
of durable, resilient and
environmentally sensitive
buildings and infrastructure at
global level.
With concrete now the
world’s second most consumed
product after water,
issues at the forefront of the
organisation’s agenda include
sustainable development and
urbanisation, as well as climate
change mitigation and
adaptation.
In addition, GCCA aims
hance the cement and concrete
industry’s contribution
to a variety of global social and
developmental challenges. To
achieve this objective, GCCA
will promote the development
of durable, resilient and
environmentally sensitive
buildings and infrastructure
at global level.
With concrete now the
world’s second most consumed
product after water,
issues at the forefront of the
organisation’s agenda include
sustainable development and
urbanisation, as well as climate
change mitigation and
adaptation.
In addition, GCCA aims to
foster innovation throughout
the construction value chain,
in collaboration with both
industry associations and inspiring
architects, engineers
and innovators.
With concrete
now the world’s
second most
consumed
product after
water
to existing associations at national
and regional level and
membership of GCCA is open
to cement manufacturers from
all over the world that share
the organisation’s values, and
partnerships will be developed
with organisations that share
its vision.
The nine members of the association
represent 1,046MTof
cement production capacity,
according to the Global Cement
Top 100 Report.
The association also aspires
to demonstrate how concrete
solutions can meet global construction
challenges and sustainable
development goals,
while simultaneously showcasing
responsible industrial
leadership in the manufacture
and use of cement and concrete.
GCCA’s seven other founding
members are CEMEX,
CNBM, CRH, Eurocement,
HeidelbergCement, Taiheiyo
and Votorantim.
The association will be led
by international cement companies
and headquartered in
London, complementing and
supporting the work done by
existing associations at national
and regional level and
membership of GCCA is open
to cement manufacturers from
all over the world that share
the organisation’s values, and