Turning the ‘ordinary’ into a brand – Four interesting success stories from West Africa

Turning the ‘ordinary’ into a brand – Four interesting success stories from West AfricaPhoto credit: smallstarter.com

What’s the real difference between a cup of coffee brewed in your kitchen and another cup of coffee brewed and sold at Starbucks? Very little. In fact, it’s likely that the beans used to make both cups of coffee were grown and harvested on the same fields in Kenya. Because your coffee tastes so good, many of your friends actually think you’re the best coffee brewer in the world. So, how come the same cup of coffee will sell for over $1 at Starbucks but your friends would struggle to pay you half this price if you tried to sell them your ‘world class’ kitchen-brewed coffee? The answer is simple - Branding! While all coffee may have been created equal, branding will make one cup of coffee superior to others.

This article looks at four local products in West Africa and how some smart entrepreneurs have turned them into hot-selling brands by making some very simple changes to these otherwise 'ordinary' products. We hope it inspires action in you and gets your creative juices flowing…

Unlike in the recent past when people would consume a product out of pure necessity or for survival, consumers in Africa are getting smarter. People are now more conscious and aware of quality and hygiene and the effects products can have on their health. This emerging attitude is drawing millions of Africans to brands – products that have a face and a sense of quality.

This article focuses on four ordinary food items that are very popular and common in West Africa. They are snacks, kitchen recipes and whole foods that have been consumed in the region for centuries. However, a few smart entrepreneurs are giving them a new face and transforming them from ‘ordinary’ local commodities to local and international hot-selling brands.

We strongly hope that your eyes are opened to the many possibilities that exist around you after reading this article. For all we know, you may have a potential ‘Starbucks brand’ in one of your favourite snacks and not even know it! Let’s meet the ‘transformers’…

#1 - Plantain chips

Plantains look much like bananas but contain a lot more starch. It is a major food staple across West, Central and East Africa, and also popular in Central America, the Caribbean Islands and northern, coastal parts of South America (such as Colombia and Venezuela).

Although they are often cooked and eaten as food, plantains make for a tasty snack when they are cut into thin slices and deep fried until they turn into golden or dark-brown crispy and crunchy flakes. It’s a common kitchen recipe that nearly everybody knows. It’s easy to make, easy to eat and loved by people on the move, school kids and millions more who have a serious craving for it.

For as long as we can remember, this tasty snack has been sold by street vendors and small stalls who often make them in their kitchens and backyards before selling them for a brisk profit. As usual with ‘ordinary’ products, thousands of people buy and consume this snack every day without knowing its origin, where and when it was made, or any additives or preservatives that may have been used to make it.

The first time we noticed the branded plantain chips in Lagos (Nigeria), it was such a delight. This branded version came in playful and colourful flavours like Hot ‘n’ Spicy, Plain ‘n’ Crunchy and Ginger. It had nutritional information on the pack, contact details of the manufacturer, a customer service line (Wow!) and most importantly, a brand name!

I’m sure you can guess what has happened to this product since it entered the market. We don’t have any sales volume figures but we can guess from how widely spread the product has become and how often they seem to run out of stock that this product has become a hot potato! Many of our friends actually told us that friends and family abroad now order for these ‘branded’ plantain chips from Europe, America and faraway China!

Lesson: With a little creativity, colour and flavor, anyone can transform a ‘common’ kitchen snack into a hot-selling export brand. Now you have the plantain proof!

#2 - Gari (also known as ‘garri’ or ‘tapioca’)

For the benefit of readers who have not read our detailed gari business article, we’ll give a quick introduction. Gari is a type of flour made from cassava, one of the most common and versatile food crops in Africa. Due to its popularity and high demand, more than 60 percent of all harvested cassava is processed into gari. Gari is very popular as a quick snack when soaked in water and eaten with roasted peanuts, sugar and sometimes milk. It is also often made into dough and eaten with a colourful variety of tasty soups and stews.

Small holder processors and farmers in rural areas remain the primary source of gari to markets across West Africa. The methods and techniques used in local gari processing are often crude and unhygienic. For a product that is so widely consumed, there are no government regulations or safety and quality standards on gari production.

Let’s just say you took a walk into one of the open markets where gari is sold in West Africa and bought a kilo you intend to use for dinner. There’s absolutely no way to tell where it was produced, its nutritional content, if any additives were used during production or even any assurance of quality. For the most part, gari is still a ‘commodity’ in many of the regions where it is eaten and enjoyed. Unlike wheat flour imported from America, or rice brought in from Thailand, gari has no brand value yet!

There appears to be signs of change. Probably driven by strict procedures for exporting food to Europe and North America, a few entrepreneurs are starting to ‘brand’ gari. Gari Ijebu, a very popular variety in South West Nigeria known for its sharp and sour taste (shown above), is now packaged for export as a distinct flavor and brand.

The packaging reveals some useful information about the producer/packager such as contact details, location of the manufacturer, nutritional content of the product and an assurance of quality and taste. A discerning consumer will definitely prefer this neatly packaged gari to the ordinary variety (on the left) that is constantly exposed to the elements (dust, sun, rain and insects) in the open market place. Both gari are essentially the same. The only difference is that one has a face (a brand) while the other remains a ‘faceless’ commodity.

Lesson: Packaging has the power to increase the value and price of a product even when the content of the package is the same as the one available on the open market!

#3 - Drinking water

For many years in parts of West Africa, anybody on the go (and under the hot sun) who wanted a taste of drinking water had to buy it from vendors who sold them in small, hand-tied nylon bags. Anybody who wanted water with a brand name (like bottled water) had to pay a much higher and often unaffordable price. Essentially, many ordinary (and poor) Africans did not have access to a fast drink of safe and good quality water.

In spite of the threat posed by these unhygienic and ‘faceless’ water brands which could easily spread water-borne diseases like cholera, anyone with access to any kind of running water could start this business.

Imagine the success of branded sachet water when it was introduced to the mass market. Although it was three times the price of ordinary hand-tied water, sachet water had important consumer information on the package - an expiry date and a government registration number which assured people of its safety and quality. Above all, its low price (compared to bottled water) made it very affordable to the ordinary masses.

The success of sachet water (popularly known as ‘Pure Water’ in Nigeria) reveals a lot about the power of putting a brand on any common item – in this case, water. Although this success has now been copied across the region, it easily reminds us of how very small changes like packaging can give a whole new look and value to any commodity. Sachet water is still the same water that had been sold for decades in a ‘faceless’ and ‘unhygienic’ way… but packaging changed everything!

#4 - Peanuts

Peanuts are known by many other local names such as earthnuts, ground nuts, goober peas, monkey nuts, pygmy nuts and pig nuts. Despite its name and appearance, the peanut is not a nut, but rather a legume(never mind, we’re sure you already learned this in Biology class!).

Well, there’s a huge chance everybody reading this already knows, and has probably eaten, peanuts before. It’s an international commodity that is grown and eaten across the world from Paraguay (in South America) to Ghana (West Africa), Greece (Europe) and China (Asia). Because of its protein content and great taste, peanuts feature in a lot of African dishes – including soups, sauces, stews and salads.

Peanut is probably more popular as a quick snack (apart from peanut butter). In many parts of Africa, roasted peanuts are commonly sold in the open by street hawkers and roadside/market vendors. As you may have noticed, selling roasted peanuts is an all-comers affair. The product is sold in small, hand-tied transparent packets and every roasted peanut tastes just the same as the next one – no difference, no unique selling point!

Well, Nkatie Burger Company (based in Ghana, we believe) decided to sell the market the same peanuts but presented and packaged in a different way. Its roasted peanuts called ‘Burger’ are coated and crusted with flour and packaged in a colourful and attractive pack. It sells for an affordable price (about 30 US cents) which makes it available to a mass market that wants a quick and tasty snack.

This product, although produced in Ghana, has become a hot-selling product in Nigeria and across West Africa. It has been embraced by millions of people who love the quality, difference and safety that a brand assures. Modern Africans will rather spend more on a ‘branded’ product than buy ‘faceless’ peanuts off the road.

So, what do you think?

Turning an ‘ordinary’ commodity into a hot-selling brand must be one of the easiest ways to make money in Africa. These examples are influenced by local recipes and Africa is well blessed with a mind-blowing variety of creative food recipes. We’re very sure we missed out something very popular in your country, town, village or home that has the potential to become a big brand. What are you going to do about it?

You know what? Tell us about a common snack that you believe can become brands like the ones discussed in this article. Wouldn’t you love the outside world to taste some of our great snacks?

What do you think?