By Pascal Oparada
The ambience was lit with colourful disco lights while personnel adorned in red Polo shirts emblazoned with a bright yellow logo scurried all over the place attending to teeming customers. You could see a mix of excitement and fatigue on their faces.
The orders were coming endlessly in torrents. They could hardly keep up.
By the corner was a bouncing castle and bungee jump. Kids were busy. It did not help the already fatigued staff who had to add the frenzied and hyper-active children to their list of things to worry about.
This was in 2005. The glory days.
Fast forward to 2017. Same place. The personnel have changed over time. The crowd has thinned out. The bouncing castle and bungee jump look rusty and dirty. Boredom has caught up with the staff. Customers came in trickles. The staff look forlorn.
This is the sorry state of one of Nigeria’s former darling Quick Service Restaurant (QSR), Mr. Biggs’s.
Mr. Bigg’s was the Nigerian equivalent of McDonald’s, at least the business model is. It was a booming franchise of United Africa Company (UAC).
Nigerians have ravenous appetite. They are one of the biggest spenders in the globe. But they are quickly bored with mediocrity and lack of innovation.
While Mr. Bigg’s held sway, Tantalizers came and swept customers off their feet, literally. Their ambience was cool, relaxing and spacious. Just the perfect place to be at the time.
Sweet Sensation, Tastee Fried Chikcken, simply known as Tastee showed up on the scene at the same time. The market shares of the big players like Mr. Bigg’s and Tantalizers began to shrink. Worse for Tantalizers, it has not opened new outlets for more than 10 years.
“I think the harsh economy in the country is biting them hard”, Glory Chiebuka, a customer said. “The reason I still patronise Mr. Bigg’s is because I am used to them and their meals are affordable,” Glory said.
While the likes of Mr. Bigg’s are becoming the fall guys of the QSR market, tastes and business models in the industry are fast changing.
Back in the days, Tantalizers introduced Meals on Wheels to enable them catch customers in their ‘comfort zone’. That too has fast become obsolete. Consumers distrust such meals as being stale, no matter how ‘oven fresh’ they appear to be.
Consumers no longer need to step out of their offices or homes before getting a meal of their choice. Hello Food works with local restaurants and QSRs to satisfy their customers. Talk about innovation, the internet is playing a huge role in the market. Call up QSRs like HelloFood.com, acquired by Jumia, and others are making a huge kill in the market.
For those who wish to explore, the direction has changed. They are no longer headed to Mr. Biggs, Tantalizers, Sweet Sensation and the likes of the old guards.
Enter KFC
Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), founded by Colonel David Sanders, came to Nigeria in 2011 amid rave reviews. The reviews were so good, customers quickly switched loyalty. Their meals and recipes were toast of consumers.
Soon enough the iconic smiling face of Sanders was almost everywhere in Nigeria. Their outlets were packed out. Some people attributed it to the successes KFC has recorded in other African countries.
“I knew about KFC before it came to Nigeria”, Emeka Ejiofor, a KFC customer told TheNiche. “When I visited the U.S. it was my favourite eatery,” he said.
But while KFC Nigeria was bursting in its seams, the franchise was closing shops in Botswana. Over 400 outlets closed down in that country.
What consumers in Nigeria loved about KFC was not just its meals. They loved the environment and atmosphere. Some outlets went as far a encouraging customers to ‘come and do your work in KFC’ when they introduced free internet Wifi. Soon, laptops and smart phones were showing up and were as many as patrons.
“It is youth-friendly and the staff are so good and well trained,” Omowunmi Kolawole said.
But KFC Nigeria is also gasping for air. The stifling economic environment is taking its toll on KFC Nigeria. There were reports some time ago that the franchise is pulling out of the country.
Domino’s Pizza grabs a big bite
In 2012, Eat ‘N’ Go Restaurant Group, the master franchisee for Domino’s Pizza Nigeria, introduced the new bride in the QSR market in Nigeria.
“Establishing ourselves in this emerging West African country presents a great opportunity for our business, and continues our global momentum as a brand,” said Ritch Allison, Domino’s Pizza executive vice president of international.
Nigerians are swooning. The tastes have soon changed from Chicken and snacks to something more spicy.
No doubt Nigerians love spices and this accounts for why Domino’s Pizza Nigeria is an instant hit with them.
The setting and ambience is quintessential of class. Housed in see through buildings, Domino’s Pizza provides a roomy environment and world class service. The personnel are friendly and approachable. It is churning out outlets in Nigeria on monthly basis.
“This shows it’s acceptance in the market in Nigeria,” Henry Offo, a customer told TheNiche. “Or it could also be that consumers are also exploring since it is relatively new in the country,” he said.
Whatever Domino’s Pizza is doing to maintain that ‘newness’ for the past six years needs to be sustained or it might soon go the way of Mr. Bigg’s and others.
