Are you a fan of Coca cola products? Have you noticed any changes in the taste of any of the products lately? Perhaps you should watch out for a change in the taste of your drink. That, however, is, if the allegation that the Nigerian Bottling Company has questions to answer on the sweetening of its products in Nigeria is anything to worry about.
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) says that the company may have compromised the quality of the products it produces for the Nigerian market. The FCCPC had accused the Coca-Cola Nigeria & Nigerian Bottling Company of adulterating the carbonated soft drink with artificial sugar.
This was disclosed In a document titled “INVESTIGATION INTO MISLEADING BRANDING AND LABELLING PRACTICES AND ALLEGATIONS OF ANTICOMPETITIVE CONDUCTS BY COCA-COLA NIGERIA LIMITED AND THE NIGERIAN BOTTLING COMPANY LIMITED” seen by BUSHLINK.
According to the Commission, the claims followed a thorough investigation into the practices of the 73-year-old company in Nigeria. The commission said, “The Commission commenced this investigation into the labelling, branding, marketing and advertising practices of Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited and the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC), in June 2019.
“While this investigation was ongoing, the Commission received another complaint in January 2021 alleging that Coca-Cola Nigeria offered its products (particularly Coke) at significantly different prices in different locations across the country and that the product quality varies from one location to another.
“This complaint prompted a further investigation into the question of whether the Coca-Cola Nigeria’s pricing model is indicative of any anti-competitive conduct, such as the abuse of a dominant market position in violation of Section 72 of the FCCPA”.
The commission findings revealed that the “Companies knowingly and intentionally applied a trade description to the Coca-Cola Less Sugar variant that could reasonably mislead consumers as to the nature and feel of the drink, in such a manner that consumers would assume that the product was the Coca-Cola Original Taste variant, in violation of Section 116 (1) and (2) of the FCCPA.
“That NBC, by producing and distributing the two variants of Lica Lime-Lemon flavoured drink in the same packaging and brand design, and using the same NAFDAC registration number for both products, impliedly and falsely communicated to the consumer that both products are the same and thus misled and deceived consumers, in violation of Section 123 (1) (a), (b) and (c) of the FCCPA and Regulation 2 (a) of the National Agency For Food And Drug Administration and Control Act (2004), Prepackaged Food (Labelling) Regulations.
“That NBC, on at least four occasions, provided false and misleading information to the Commission, in violation of Section 112 of the FCCPA; and That Coca-Cola Nigeria, on at least one occasion, misled the Commission, in violation of Section 112 of the FCCPA.
“That the available pieces of information regarding the pricing patterns of Coca-Cola products are, by themselves, insufficient to demonstrate any abuse of market dominance, but they however raise some concerns around the pricing in Ebonyi State in 2019.”