FMCG Companies defy consumers, ration quantity offerings in pack sizes
By Zion Rufus
Despite continuous nose-dive in consumer purchasing powers, most companies in the fast moving consumer goods sector have continued to play a fast one on unsuspecting members of their target audience by incredible reduction and rationing in their product offerings.
Packaged products like cereals, beverages, noodles, pasta, powdered products, and more can be easily manipulated and reduced as it is quite difficult to notice the difference until the content is turned out and consumed.
As a result of this, consumers have raised concerns and owing to this development, MARKETING EDGE conducted a vox-pop to investigate the action and the views of various consumers.
Gloria Baba, a Virtual Assistant shares her experience during an interview with MARKETING EDGE: “I went to buy cereal the other day, I knew the prices of things had gone up, so the first thing I did was to ask ‘how much?’ even though I knew how much it was, but I just couldn’t be sure. When he said it was N50 I bought it. By the time he had cut two sachets, I was shocked to see how much the contents had reduced.”
The FMCG sector includes a wide range of retail products in high demand and purchased by consumers such as foods, clothing, home care, body care, housing and luxury items like jewelry, automobiles, electronics and more. Irrespective of the rate of inflation and economic conditions which could significantly affect pricing, the demand for food is relatively high.
Atori Alex, a project manager at a solutions company said: ” I truly don’t understand why the prices have all gone up and we are not even getting the same content like we used to. Its either drastically reduced, or drastically diluted. Biscuits are now fewer numbered, some used to be about 7 pieces, now they have been reduced to 4, sometimes 3. Price of flour has also gone way up.”
Conditions such as inflation and increase in the cost of production have moved companies to raise prices of products in order to maintain profitability and offset the change in costs.
Increased prices typically result in lower demand; in this case, instead of increasing the prices of these goods, the companies package a reduced quantity, at the same price. When the cost of production increases, companies cut cost either by reducing quantity or quality of a product while maintaining the price, or maintaining the quality and quantity and inflating the price.
Ogunnowo Afolabi, an Auditor shared that some dairy companies have maintained quantity but increased price, whilst some cereal companies have maintained price but reduced quantity.
Deborah Olaiya, a Digital marketer said: “ There is a lot of price inflation going on in the market right now from the cost of rice, beans, garri, to groceries and so many other home care products and I could say this is basically happening because the cost of production has also increased. A ton of cassava used to be NGN12, 000, during the pandemic it became N15,000, now it sits at N25, 000. This is really saddening.”
Ruth Felix, a student and entrepreneur shares: “I have noticed a lot of reduction in the beef roll packaging. In the past, beef and sausage rolls used to be filled with enough protein inside, now they are minimally sized, and the packaging is just air. Although it is understandable why they are doing these, but then, they need to also consider the consumers, we are all in this together.
Gabriel Adedeji, an Interior designer noted that it has now become a struggle to purchase raw materials in the market as the prices of the basic products have all gone up and their sizes reduced.
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