Fanta, Sprite still enjoy positive consumers’ rating, despite controversies —Polls

In spite of the controversies surrounding the safety of two soft drinks brands, Fanta and Sprite, from the stable of the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) in the past few weeks, polls conducted among a cross-section of consumers in that market segment, revealed that the two soft drinks brands still enjoy sizable patronage and loyalty among the consumers.

In an opinion poll conducted by CNN Africa on Twitter tagged Nigerians, are you still drinking Fanta and Sprite after this high court ruling, and monitored by Brands & Marketing, a huge number of consumers, on the platform, still reeled out reasons why  they would still  prefer to pitch their tents with the  two soft drinks brands.

For instance, 61 per cent of the respondents were in the ‘Yes,’ ‘doesn’t bother me’ category, while the remaining 39 per cent of the respondents insisted they would have a second thought before fraternising with the products.

This disposition from consumers towards the soft drinks brands was re-echoed in another poll carried out by Brands & Marketing to gauge consumers’ feelings, especially with the dusts being raised by the issue gradually settling down.

Some of the consumers expressed the belief that the ‘undue assaults’ the two brands had been facing from some quarters, especially on the social media space, in the past few weeks, should not be taken as representing the collective reactions of their consumers, but that of a leadership price.

For instance,  Kelvin Anthony, an entrepreneur, and an ardent consumer of Fanta,  believes it would be foolhardy to think that those two leading brands, that had been in the market for decades, would decide overnight to ‘rubbish’ such achievement by not playing by the rules, as being claimed in some quarters.

He argued that the controversies had not really reduced his interest and those of his family members in the Fanta drink; since it has a rich tradition that thrives on quality and strict adherence to the rules.

“Honestly, these controversies have not really reduced my interest in Fanta. Nothing in all these things suggests that their bottlers didn’t play by the rules. Besides, if the contents  were to be nearly as bad,  as some would  want us believe now, do you sincerely think you and I would still be alive today, considering the fact that we have been taking these drinks for decades?” he asked rhetorically.

Another consumer, Joyce Uwadiae, would however want Nigerians to exercise caution in the way they pursue their consumer rights activism.

“While not holding brief for any company, but I remember there was a time the Indomie Noodles brand was nearly outlawed in this country when some people came up with some phantom claims that the popular noodles  brand was injurious to health.

“If not for the meticulous job carried out by NAFDAC then, the brand would have been out of circulation by now,” she argued.

A food nutritionist, Jide  Omololu would rather describe the recent outcry on the  amount of Benzoic Acid levels in the two soft drinks brands as amounting to ‘crying wolves where there are none.’

“For me, the bottlers of these brands have never, in any way, erred. It has not gone against any rules. When you talk of Benzoic Acid levels, it is simply a case of different strokes for different folks.

“For instance, it is not out of place to discover that the recommended amounts of Benzoic Acid (preservatives) in those two brands are different from what obtain in the UK. And a lot of factors, including country’s temperature, storage and distribution conditions are always taken into consideration before arriving at these levels. So why this fuss?” he asked.

Fanta and Sprite have 200mg/Kg, a much lower amount than the CODEX International benchmark of 250mg/Kg for the drinks.