▪︎One of Mr Bigg’s outlets
Mr Bigg’s was one of Nigeria’s frontline fast food restaurants, owned by Nigerian conglomerate United African Company of Nigeria PLC.
An industry insights has revealed why Mr Bigg’s, which was the biggest food brand in Nigeria, lost the glow in the industry.
People familiar with the company recall : “Mr Bigg’s history started as a coffee shop inside Kingsway Department Stores in the 1960s.In 1973, these shops were rebranded as Kingsway Rendezvous, which became Mr Bigg’s in 1986. They dominated the market from the 80s till the early 2000s.
Mr Bigg’s had 170 locations in Nigeria, with another four locations in Ghana.
In 2013, Famous Brands, South Africa, bought a 49 percent stake in the business.
The chain saw rapid expansion after becoming one of the first Nigerian companies to sell franchises to investors.
But even then, Mr Bigg’s was already on its way down long before competitors like The Place, Chicken Republic, TFC and KFC even arrived.
What Happened?
So, top guys at UAC began giving out Mr Bigg’s franchises to their wives, side chicks, nephews, friends etc without ensuring that these people were adequately qualified to run the business.
Most people believe they crashed because they got lazy. But that’s not what happened.
So, their collapse was completely not because of competition. It is actually what some will call business suicide.
The real problem started when Mr. Bigg’s decided to operate and create a business model that will let them work through representative.
Making them the first Nigerian brand to sell franchises to investors. It was a huge deal at the time.
They believed they struck gold & diamond believing that you would start to see Mr Bigg’s on almost every street. Yes, that was their plan.
This meant giving random investors total permission to use the name “Mr Bigg’s” to open outlets and sell food across the country.
For example it’s same thing with “Nigerian Idol” you know American Idol, which is the original franchise. So, it’s not like the owners of American Idol are the ones organizing this Nigerian Idol, i mean, the quality is clearly different.
So, top guys at UAC began giving out Mr Bigg’s franchises to their wives, side chicks, nephews, friends etc without ensuring that these people were adequately qualified to run the business.
So, what happened next was inevitable.
Brand dilution and a retarded standards.
Because they became unable to uphold the reputation of excellence that made people love them.
Meaning, the Mr Bigg’s in Maryland would have a completely different menu from the one at
Ogudu 3km away. Some “Mr Bigg’s” were even selling Amala.
Their biggest seller which was meat pie, was wrecked.
The one sold at Ketu, will taste completely different from the one sold at Mile 12. So, it’s like every outlet had different chefs doing experiments with our tastebuds.
Unacceptable!
So, customers had to search elsewhere since Mr Bigg’s could no longer provide constant quality experience across all outlets.
Three decades ago, they would have survived this blunder.
But now, competitions such as TFC, KFC,
The Place, mastered the art of giving same taste across outlets.
Mr Bigg’s had no chance of competing because these new competitors have professionals handling every franchise outlet, unlike them.
While Mr Bigg’s was playing catch up, the new generation eateries were expanding.
Mr Bigg’s had more than 170 outlets in SW Nigeria then, but now more than 95 percent of them are inactive. Some have been leased out, sold or closed down.”
▪︎Culled from X, with additional reports.