Degradation Of a Nigerian Product

Why some products degrade in quality and stay that way.

It was a bright day only darkened with the remembrance of my school work. Walking on the path home, I saw a blue wrapper with promises of a biscuit sandwich. Of course, I obliged not knowing what bonds I might break in the future through this taste. A crunchy taste with a glimmer of dark chocolate with a filling of vanilla cream in-between. Etching a memory inside my brain that will not be forgotten at all.

The Author

Most people tell me it’s a nostalgic feeling but some things just don’t feel the same. I tend to notice these things no matter how slight. Maybe it’s a curse or a blessing but I live with it either way. This is a story about a biscuit brand I loved and cherish to this day but fell by the wayside. This might sound insignificant to you but it shows a pattern in certain industries that is too dire to ignore. Also, lessons and reasons can be learnt from this scenario. Well, it’s picture time.

Noreos Biscuit. The sandwich that lost its spark.

Noreos sandwich biscuits are produced by Haansbro Nigeria. It was one of their first products which gave the company great success in the Nigerian Market. I do know that people say that it was an Oreos rip-off which is true. The issue is that it was a good Oreos rip-off i.e. not too sweet, and had a little dark chocolate and creamy filling.

The Beginning

On that faithful day, I bought my usual qty. from the local shop. I went home and took a bite but this time it tasted like cocoa colouring and the filling was just plain etc. I thought it was a bad batch. So the next day, I went to a different shop and got a different batch and it tasted the same. That’s when I knew that something wasn’t right. Well, over the next few weeks, It was pretty much established that they changed the formula to a lower-quality version. Why? well this is well it gets complicated

It’s Complicated

Well, we could start with a fancy image that gives a brief explanation.

Margins and products

Every product has a production cost plus marketing, distribution etc. In summary, after these have been calculated. The amount of margin or profit will be added to release a competitive product to the market. Simple but complicated.

Well, I could start with a diatribe about how corporations are evil and care only about the bottom line but in reality, the reason why most products degrade in the country is well production costs have gone up and companies want to be competitive in spite of that and they cut some corners (Low-quality raw materials etc.) to reach that competitive price point. You may ask but why are production costs rising to a point in which products degrade? Well, as I said, it’s complicated

It’s Rough Out There

The Nigerian business environment is very challenging due to high energy costs, limiting infrastructure, crippling regulatory policies, government intervention, an unstable currency etc. Imagine buying a container of raw materials for twice the price you bought it for last month. Yep, it’s that bad. This creates a cycle where the goal of most companies is not about delivering quality products to their customers or creating unique snack experiences. The goal inevitably shifts to how to survive and how to increase market share without an uptick in product quality. This leads to a lack of innovation and investment in their various niches which may then lead to the degradation of their core products to stay afloat in their environment. It’s brutal out there.

The Degradation Cycle

This cycle isn’t just limited to just Noreos though. This has happened to Cocacola (changed their recipe and it’s basically sugar water without that bitter edge) or Rana (a detergent company) which had one of the best detergents for colour-sensitive clothing and it wasn’t as effective as the months passed by. The key question that needs to be asked is pretty simple. Are the products you use today still good as they were 5 years ago? This leads to a dark product pattern which we could call the Degradation Cycle:

Step 1: Launch in Nigeria a new product with great quality

Step 2: Degrade quality and maintain the price to remain competitive

Step 3: Repeat process

This has created a narrative in marketing cycles that well “Nigerians don’t like expensive products so make your product cheaper to compete”. This statement has merit because well we are one of the poorest countries in the world and we have a very high inflation rate too. The problem this narrative creates is that it diminishes the need for high-quality products in the market and discourages innovation and R&D in some consumer niches. This cycle also creates an unintended effect on consumers too.

The Overton Taste Window

The Overton window is defined as ‘the spectrum of ideas on public policy and social issues considered acceptable by the general public at a given time’. This can also be applied to taste. When Noreos launched, the consumers at the time appreciated the excellent taste and quality. When they degraded the product to still be competitive, they might have lost some consumers who noticed the difference but the new customers won’t notice because they have never had a taste reference to compare with. So the new customers(Usually young) think that the product is the best thing as sliced bread and people’s complaints are just nitpicky. You can also call it Taste priming or anchoring. These effect has also been prevalent in a lot of other consumer products. It may not be intentional but it also leads to customer apathy which tends to disincentivize companies to maintain their standard and aim for the lowest common denominator.

Solutions and Despair

Solutions to this problem need a mixture of reality and bravery. My solution is for companies to aim for the high-end market. Think about it what if Haansbro had different categories such as Noreos Premium or Noreos Regular? Aiming for the high-end and the low-end at the same time can be an effective strategy. Experts will say that the country is too poor but maybe they have forgotten that we import a lot of foreign goods (chocolates, biscuits etc.) so this strategy is possible. This requires bravery and the economy doesn’t allow that at the moment. My hunch tells me that this might never happen and we are stuck with this cycle until there is a change in certain narratives and perceptions of the market and a focus on consumer needs, not their wants.

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