Amaka Okon, a secretary who works with an audit firm at Victoria Island, Lagos state, usually goes to Chicken Republic and Tastee Fried Chicken (TFC) for lunch.
Amaka earns about N100, 000 monthly and budgets N3, 000 weekly for lunch. On a daily basis, she budgets between N500-N700. During her lunch hours, she either goes to Chicken Republic, for a combo meal which comprises jollof and fried rice and a piece of chicken for N500 or TFC’s combo meal for N650.
But on this particular day, during her 20 minutes commute to her usual place for lunch, she discovered that Tantalizers had also joined the combo trend.
Amaka also found that Tantalizers was not the only Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) jumping into this combo party. Sweet Sensation, Mass Cass, Kobis Foods amongst others, has also recently joined. Combo meal is usually a combination meal which typically includes food items and beverage.
The introduction of combo packs is not a new development as it started with Chicken Republic and TFC in 2016 when Nigeria was hit with an economic recession which had a negative impact on consumer’s wallet.
According to consumer experts, the weak purchasing power and the success of the combo meals from the initial starters have made other QSRs follow suit.
Abiola Gbemisola, consumer analyst at Chapel Hill Denham said, “This just shows that they are competing to stay relevant in the QSR industry and survive Nigeria’s fragile economy.”
In 2016, Chicken Republic started with a combo meal tagged “Refuel Meal” which consisted of jollof or fried rice and a piece of chicken for N500 and TFC came along with another tagged “Value meal” which consists of jollof and fried rice for N650. While others like Tantalizers, Sweet sensation, Mass Cass, and Kobis Food have started in 2019.
Tantalizers introduced their combo meal two months called “Super Saver” which comprises one piece of chicken and jollof or fried rice for N500 and Sweet Sensation’s combo called “Real Deal” meal which comprises jollof or fried rice, star chicken, drink and a pack for N650 was introduced 6 months ago.
Then four or five months ago, Mama Cass brought its own combo meal which consists of a 35 cl pet coke, jollof or fried rice or Spagatii and a piece of chicken for N700 and Kobis Foods ‘s combo called Delight combo has a piece of chicken, jollof or fried rice, a 35cl coke, and water for N800.
The move is seen capable of establishing a long-term relationship with low-income customers to whom affordability really matters, according to experts.
“Going retail with the products is the next niche for players to come down to the level of the economy as the country struggles with high poverty rate and rising population,” Ayorinde Akinloye, a consumer analyst at CSL Stockbrokers said
“Consumers are becoming poorer and most of the QSRs are trying to introduce the combos to encourage people to buy. So they are trying to key into the success of combos by targeting that segment of the market rather than the premium market because right now they are not doing well as before,” Akinloye further said.
According to experts, the success of the combo meals is one of the reasons why Chicken Republic is currently opening more branches in Nigeria.
“Most QSRs are trying to increase the volumes of food that they sell, so they offer combo meals and also let people have value for their money. I feel Combo meals is the way to go for QSRs,” Eronmosele Aziba, Consumer analyst, Tellimer Group said.
Domino’s and Debonairs, the two biggest players in Nigeria’s pizza market and Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies are going retail. Domino’s introduced ‘Smallie Combo” for N550 and Debonairs, a slice of pizza goes for N1,200. FMCG companies have also been rolling out sachet products to enable them penetrate the larger low-income market which has been hit by the harsh contraction breeze.
