Nigeria’s retail space still subscale —Sun-Basorun, CEO, FoodCo Nigeria

In this interview by AKIN ADEWAKUN, the Chief Executive Officer, FoodCo Nigeria, Mr. Ade Sun-Basorun gives his assessment of the nation’s retail space, reasons for the consumer goods company’s new Abeokuta outlet and the business journey in the past 39 years, among other issues. Excerpts:

 

HOW would you describe Nigeria’s retail space?

By any metric or any source, you pick, modern retail in our country is generally considered to be about 5 percent of the market. When you also consider the scale of the retail sector in Nigeria versus what obtains in other countries, it just doesn’t add up. For instance, when you take a look at the top retailers in Nigeria, on the average, they will have about 14 stores, give or take. But, when you take a look at a country like Kenya that has only about a fraction of our population, their leader has well over 60 hyper markets, maybe even 70. In South Africa, the leaders have a store count of over 1,000 -2,000 outlets. So, whichever way you call it, Nigeria’s retail space is significantly subscale.

 

You recently opened an outlet in Abeokuta. What would you say informed the choice of the ancient city?

Our aspiration is to continue to serve more and more customers across the South West. For us, as a brand, we have a business development team that evaluates and recommends locations with customers that desire the type of service that we offer, and for whom we can add value to their lives and bring some measure of joy and satisfaction in their retail experience because that is what we are really all about. That team was able to identify that there was an opportunity for us in Abeokuta. The size and demography of the city, their kindness and warmth, and the ability to appreciate quality experience and products, as well as their desire for value are some of the reasons why we identified Abeokuta as a suitable location for the FoodCo brand.

 

 FoodCo’s niche has always been appropriate pricing and affordability. How have you been able to maintain this, considering the fluctuating fortunes of the nation’s economy?

The first thing for us is the philosophy and belief that we have the responsibility to deliver affordability to our customers. Once we start with that belief and intent, we now go back and figure out what we need to do in order to make it happen. That mindset helps us prioritize the delivery of value and affordability to our customers, and in many cases, over profitability. It also drives us to make a number of strategic decisions as to how we structure the business. As a result, it causes us to be cost conscious around how we set up business; eliminating unnecessary expenses and ensuring that our human resources and infrastructure is streamlined because the lower our cost base, then the easier it is for us to deliver that value.

 

How could you describe the company’s CSR profile since opening its doors for business?

We are very intent in ensuring that we are a positive addition to any community we operate in, first by being an employer, and second, by being a good local citizen both in taxes and practices. Third, by supporting the set of vendors and suppliers that are within the communities we play and lastly by enhancing careers not just creating jobs because we believe in giving people an opportunity to not just earn, but to learn and grow to become more substantive members of the society. But what we are proudest of are the investments we make to make them grow.

Externally, we continue to look out for opportunities to make investments as well as interventions that will be ultimately impactful to the wider society and of course our immediate society. For instance, during the early days of the onset of COVID, during the lockdown stage, we provided relief materials comprising food, clothing and basic toiletries to over 60 indigent communities in Ibadan. We also made a number of donations of medical equipment to the University College Hospital, Ibadan. We also reached out to the Oyo State COVID 19 Task force where we provide snacks and light refreshments for the team. I will also add that we regularly support, on a continuous basis, a variety of NGOs throughout the year. We have resources that we set aside to offer that support.

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