As con-sumers and producers work together, and apart, in this complicated dance towards satisfying their different interests, success comes down to what consumers do. Our research shows that even elements like packaging and religion affect demand. We also discovered that price discrimination could be a veritable tool to buoy demand, especially in Northern Nigeria.
Consumption pattern
Of the 300 BSR consumers we sam-pled, we discovered an element of age colouration in demand patterns. Seventy-four percent of consumers of the product are within the 20-40 years age bracket; much fewer (9 percent) are below the 19 years age bracket.
This is corroborated by the 70 percent who admit buying BSR during working hours (either in traffic or at shops near their working places).The data points to the fact that less adolescents and children consume BSR.
If this conclusion is combined with responses to the question “who first in-troduced you to BSR,” it can be deduced that the current generation of working adults were introduced to BSR by either their parents or older relatives (see chart I) but they in turn have not championed the cause of passing on the culture.
One respondent remarked that chil-dren are less inclined to buy BSR because of price (average price is N50). There are other flour based products which command “greater volume and divisibility”(in the eye of children).
Who is gaining street credibility?
In terms of brand loyalty, 73 percent of respondents said they consume the Gala brand regularly. But other brands like Super Bite (55 percent), Meaty (43percent) and Beefie (37 percent) are gain-ing considerable market share rapidly (Consumers consume different brands simultaneously weekly).
The Gala brand was introduced in the 1960s and remained the only BSR in the country for decades before the emergence of the new brands. Indeed, the competition is heating up as other brands and tastes are launched. We discovered that the brands a consumer consumes is determined by factors ranging from price to reputation of producer.
Forty-two percent respec-tively of respondents claimed they buy a brand because of its content and texture (see chart 4). In terms of texture most respondents (62 percent) prefer soft; just8 percent prefer hard. Marketing information for new en-trants to the industry: since consumers are inclined to buy either Relatively-Soft (31 percent) or Soft BSR, packaging, distribution and baking should all be focused on the preferred texture.
Selling more in the future
The survey throws up the fact that most consumers of BSR are constantly in motion. Those who will succeed in marketing BSR must adopt marketing strategies which are appealing to the
Meet Nigeria’s beef sausage roll consumers younger generation of Nigerians and move the products within their reach(moving off the road to meet the young where they are). Also, it is important to devise measures that market the product outside traffic (because legislation has the capacity to push sellers off the road).
Pricing, distribution and other mat-ters
We asked respondents to make recom-mendations for producers of BSR and there was a recurring decimal from sampled individuals in Northern states. Eighty-six percent of them indicted cost as a major drawback for very low income “potential” consumers. One suggested price discrimi-nation to encourage consumption while another encouraged smaller packages(some brands have started this). Another indicated that the Superbite market is large but the product is scarcely available up North.
Yet another respon-dent noted “Always indicate HALAL on the package because of the Muslims”. When asked for their advice for pro-ducers, 97 percent of respondents said they will be more impressed if producers added more beef. According to them beef is what makes the product essentially dif-ferent from bread.
The same respondents were not positively inclined to paying more for the extra beef. This is valuable intelligence for brands struggling to make that remarkable leap in patronage: Increase your beef content and lure the consumers to your brand.
The future of the BSR market
According to South African based Tiger Brands Limited, Gala consumption in Nigeria is unlimited; but more than that what is clear is that the demand and sup-ply for BSR could be stretched further in Nigeria if the right steps are taken.
There is need to drive the market to younger Nigerians and to use price discrimination creatively to gain market share. Apart from this, there is need from emerging brands to be more daring in making the initial sacrifices for market share. We discovered that the growth is in the hinterland, rural areas and up North.
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