Felix Enwemadu, is the General Manager of PepsiCo Nigeria, the company relies heavily on Nigerian farmers to sustain its operations, with key supplies coming through partnerships with Flour Mills of Nigeria and Presco Plc.
In this interview with Nairametrics, he explained the broader benefits of this strategy across agricultural value chain.
Nairametrics: How long has PepsiCo been operating in Nigeria and what impact has it made?
Felix Enwemadu: I think the starting point is the PepsiCo’s commitment to Nigeria. I think that’s the very starting point.We’ve been investing in Nigeria significantly over the past three decades, and our intention is also to continue.
But also, we’ve built a partnership in terms of how we impact the communities in which we work and play. And I think that, for me, is the more critical piece, rather than looking at business growth opportunities.
Nairametrics: How have you unlocked more job opportunities, and build a thriving ecosystem of local suppliers?
Felix Enwemadu: We source our raw materials predominantly from Nigeria, and that also helps to create jobs.But also, from an impact standpoint, we’re collaborating on a number of fronts, not just from a manufacturing distribution standpoint, but from a social impact standpoint as well.
Nairametrics: What percentage of PepsiCo’s raw materials are sourced locally here in Nigeria? And how is the company working with local farmers and suppliers to strengthen the value chain?
Felix Enwemadu: Okay. So, if you look across our categories, we play in three different categories.We play in oats category, the quaker oats that everybody knows. Very solid brand with a lot of health benefits. We also have a sausage roll brand, which is called Yum Yum.
And now we’re just looking to introduce Cheetos into the market. So for each of them, our sourcing capabilities are slightly different. For Cheetos, we’re sourcing close to 100% of the raw materials from Nigeria. The core ingredient you see or the raw materials you see there is corn. Corn grits. And our corn grits are sourced today from a partnership with Flour Mills, which everybody also knows.
The only area where we have an import sort of model is Quaker oats, because the climate in Nigeria does not allow anyone to grow oats.
It’s a household name. They have a backward integrated program with Nigerian farmers. So, they have an outgrower scheme, thousands of farmers who grow these products, and then Flour Mills offtakes from them, and then converts it into what we make.
Nairametrics: What about the vegetable oil you use?
Felix Enwemadu: We do 100% sourcing of our oils, our vegetable oils from a Nigerian company called Presco, which is quoted on the stock exchange(NGX). We have a very solid partnership with them, and they provide us with all the specs of our oils that we use for Cheetos and also for our sausage rolls. Flavours are also sourced locally, in-country.
So, we’re close to 100%. Sausage rolls as well. Our wheat flour, which is the main component of that category, is also sourced locally from FlourMills as well. So we have a fully integrated local sourcing program, working with local suppliers.The only area where we have an import sort of model is Quaker oats, because the climate in Nigeria does not allow anyone to grow oats.
So that’s why it’s solely imported. But for the rest of the portfolio, and for future launches as well, we’re looking to source locally, because that is key for the development of this country.