QSRs leverage changing demographics, lifestyle to expand market
Ten year-old Nneka ran into the living room to find her 35 year-old mother lounging leisurely on the sofa, waiting for other members of the family to emerge.
The family would first visit Tastee Fried Chicken to buy some meals, then to Cold Stone Creamery to purchase some ice-cream and off they would go to swim and have fun. This has become a regular Saturday ritual for the family and increasingly so for more families, especially small sized ones.
Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) or Fast Food Restaurants (FFR) and other forms of formal retail businesses aware of the opportunities locked in Nigeria’s demographics and changing lifestyle are positioning to capture profitable pieces of the pie.
A survey by global Initial Public Offering specialists Renaissance Capital shows that nearly half of Nigeria’s middle class (defined as people with an average monthly income of USD 500 – 600) are planning to buy fridges, freezers and other white goods, suggesting a consumer boom is under way.
Recent visits to QSRs such as Mr Biggs, Tantalizers, Chicken Republic, Sweet Sensation and Domino’s Pizza among others show that the generation Y and Z demographic, those born in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s have a lifestyle prone to consuming services offered by the QSRs. Generations Y and Z comprise about 70 percent of Nigeria’s population, which represent strong market fundamentals.
“I grew up with a Sweet Sensation outlet in my neighbourhood and our family has built a tradition around it. We eat out at least once every week as a family and those outings are great, we enjoy the convenience, leisure and sheer entertainment at the outlet” said 16 year-old Lanre Ogunlana whose 45 year-old father works as an engineer at a construction firmOnly recently, Domino’s Pizza Nigeria opened its 20th outlet at Ogudu, Lagos, and plans to open two more before the end of the year and to grow to 30 outlets next year, an indication of confidence in the growth of consumption.
Speaking at the formal opening of the outlet, Antoine Zammarieh, Managing Director, Eat N’ Go Limited, stated that the opening of the Ogudu outlet of Domino’s Pizza brings to bear the brand’s commitment to continually bridge the proximity challenges faced by its existing consumers within Lagos.
“We are pleased to establish a presence in this neighbourhood as part of our continued retail drive and commitment to increasing the number of Domino’s Pizza outlets to thirty (30) by 2017. You can be assured of our readiness to provide excellent customer experience synonymous to best global practices in this outlet in order to ensure and that every experience with the Domino’s Pizza brand is one to be cherished.” he added
About 1986, UAC Restaurants Ltd launched Mr Bigg’s. The franchise took off like a big musical hit single and soon came to mean different things to different people. It became the preferred meeting place for lovers. Families visited on Sundays at different times, some almost immediately after church services and others in the evenings. Children loved the mini-playground within the restaurants. To be seen at a Mr Bigg’s outlet was a big deal, at least then.
Mr Bigg’s at this point was less of a QSR and more of a confectionery. This changed with the entrance of Sweet Sensation (1994), Tantalizers (1997) and Tastee Fried Chicken (1997), broadening the choices. This would prompt Mr Biggs to introduce local dishes under the “Village Kitchen” brand.
STEPHEN ONYEKWELU