Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has issued its final order on Coca-Cola Nigeria and the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) for misleading trade descriptions.
The final order also includes FCCPC findings on the companies’ unfair marketing tactics.
The commission specifically pointed out that the companies misrepresented their ‘Original Taste, Less Sugar’ variant as having the same formulation as the ‘Original Taste’ variant.
The FCCPC has mandated the two companies to ensure their packaging and labelling clearly differentiate the two products, to the commission’s satisfaction.
The companies will be under FCCPC supervision for the next 24 months.
The FCCPC launched an official investigation between June 2019 and December 2020 on Coca-Cola Nigeria and NBC where it discovered that both companies were violating regulatory rules.
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The FCCPA stated: “Contrary to Section 124(1) (a) of the FCCPA, Coca-Cola Nigeria markets Coca-Cola Original Taste Less Sugar in packaging first, indistinguishable, and now not sufficiently distinguishable from Coca-Cola Original Taste, contrary to Sections 123(1) (a), (b), and (c) of the FCCPA.
“Further, Coca-Cola and NBC after regulatory intervention still failed to take appropriate steps to modify misleading behaviour, demonstrating that the companies acted intentionally by misrepresenting Coca-Cola Original Taste Less Sugar as Coca-Cola Original Taste in a deliberate business strategy.”
Coca-Cola Nigeria has claimed that its product packaging complies with national regulatory requirements.
In response, Coca-Cola released a statement on 2 August 2024, reiterating its dedication to consumer transparency.
“Coca-Cola Nigeria provides clear, accessible nutrition information on our packaging in line with national regulatory requirements and is committed to transparency for consumers.
“We strongly believe that the Coca-Cola System in Nigeria has complied with all regulations and look forward to the opportunity to bring this topic to closure,” Coca-Cola in a statement said.
