‘Gala’, Losing The Battle To Maintain Top Spot?

For Gala, a Beef Sausage Roll by UAC Foods, it is longer at ease. Nigeria’s most popular sausage roll conjures up nostalgic feelings for many, gone were the days where it was clearly the market leader and the toast of Sausage Roll lovers as dwindling quality and the emergence of rival brands have left Gala battling for survival in a market it once had by the jugular. BABAJIDE OKEOWO in this report takes a look at the factors that are shaping the future of a once dominant brand. On a journey from Sango to Oshodi with traffic moving at a snail pace, out of boredom or from hunger pangs, Biola Kareem hollered at a young hawker selling Beef Rolls in the traffic, bought a roll of Gala sausage, unwrapped and took a bite from it, what followed was complaint galore. ‘This thing is fast losing its quality, the beef filling is getting smaller with each passing day’ he complained to no one in particular. Now visibly agitated, he went further, ‘sometimes in the process of eating this thing you crunch bones, in fact I will not buy Gala again’ she concluded. That is the story of Gala, a popular beef sausage roll from the stables of UAC Foods Plc, Gala was once the toast of Beef roll lovers, so popular was it that brand name ‘Gala’ became synonymous with beef roll in the country. That dominance is fast becoming a thing of the past as the brand is losing its grip on the beef roll market and conceding grounds to other brands in the market. Dwindling quality One of the ‘greatest sins’ allegedly committed by UAC Foods is the dwindling quality of the brand. Biola Kareem is not the only one who is complaining about the gradual drop in the quality of Gala. Olusola Awe is a 400 Level student of Mathematics from Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNNAB) he shared his experience with www.perfectbrandsng.com, according to him, he has been eating Gala for as long as he can remember until a sordid experience made him pitch his tent with another brand. According to him, ‘on this day I was seriously hungry and I wasn’t done with lectures for the day, so as usual I dashed off to the vendors stand and bought a roll of Gala and a cold bottle of drink’. What followed, according Sola was a disaster. He went on with his narration, ‘as soon as I took the first bite of the beef roll, in the process of munching it, I gnashed my teeth on a hard substance, I cried out in pain and quickly spat it out, I found out that what i munched was a fragment of bone, it was a very painful experience for me’ he said. As a result of that experience, Sola has decided not to eat Gala again. A user on Nairaland, an online interactive forum has nothing but harsh words for UAC Foods, according to him, Gala is almost a Metaphor for all that is stale, brittle and tasteless, I haven’t eaten that sausage sawdust roll in ages he surmised. Enter Chi SuperBite Contrived to leave Gala battling for survival is the emergence of Chi Super Bite, a rival product from the stable of Chi Foods. With captivating punch lines, enchanting adverts and innovation to its product, the emergence of SuperBite as some opined, is one of the major reasons Gala is battling for survival. “With its soft texture and captivating look, Chi prides itself as the beef roll that is neatly cut for easy baking and seasoning that gives that super eating experience that is prepared with world-class standard to give that fresh, filling, nutritious and satisfying experience” so said a lover of SuperBite sausage roll. It seems that Chi SuperBite is gaining an upper hand on Gala if a recent research conducted by Value Fronteira Ltd, a business research/analytics, economic science, process focus and capacity building organization is anything to go by. According to the organization, on quality basis, the following are the top five brands: Rite Sausage roll, Gala, SuperBite, Meaty and Bigi apple On Softness basis, the top five are: Chicken sausage, SuperBite, Rite Sausage Roll, Bigi Spicy and Bigi Beef. On Beef contents of the rolls, the top five brands are: SuperBite, Bigi Apple, Chopsy, Meaty and Gala The import of this is that despite been the oldest of all the brands in the market having been in existence since 1952, Gala didn’t win in any of the categories, it even came last in the beef filling category giving credence to the allegations of Biola Kareem. …..and other brands Also jostling for market share are other less prominent brands like Beefie, Meaty, Chopsy and Bigi. The emergence of these other brands has also contributed to slashing the dominance of Gala. These other brands might not be as dominant as Gala and SuperBite, but, they are also holding their own in the market. Is Standard Organization of Nigeria doing its job? Standard Organization of Nigeria is the body saddled with the responsibility of ensuring the quality of products in the country. According to a statement on the organizations website ‘We ensure that locally manufactured products in Nigeria give the required degree of satisfaction to consumers through compliance with Government policies on standardization and conformity assessment.’ Aside ensuring the level and maintenance of quality of products does not decline; the body is also capable of prosecuting defaulters. Has SON has been carrying out its duty is a question that is begging for an answer, but, if the words of Olusola Awe is anything to go by, he is not impressed by what the Joseph Odumodu led organization is doing in ensuring that the standards of products are maintained. According to him, ‘if SON is doing anything to ensure the compliance of organization to maintaining standards, it is not showing because what I have experienced with Gala in recent times, the quality of Gala is dropping sharply and nothing is been done about it’ he said. What the law says on Consumer Satisfaction Consumer Protection Council (CPC) is a Parastatal of the Federal Government of Nigeria, supervised by the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment. Though it was established by Act No. 66 of 1992, it commenced operations only in 1999, when its institutional framework was put in place. The mandate of the organization requires it to among others, eliminate hazardous products from the market, provide speedy redress to consumers complaints, undertake campaigns as will lead to increased consumer awareness, ensure that consumers interest receive due consideration at the appropriate forum, and encourage trade, industry and professional associations to develop and enforce in their various fields quality standards designed to safeguard the interest of consumers. http://perfectbrandsng.com/gala-losing-the-battle-to-maintain-top-spot/