NIGERIA – Boasting of having 8 manufacturing plants, over 7,000 dealers, skilled and dedicated employees, and a sophisticated distribution system across Nigeria, there is practically no community in Nigeria where a cold bottle of Coca-Cola is not within the close reach of consumers.

Marking 70 years of existence in the West African country since 1951, through its bottling arm Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Limited and Coca-Cola Nigeria Ltd, the Coca-Cola System has kicked off its platinum jubilee celebration with a raft of activities lined up to run all through the remaining part of 2021.

These activities include kickstarting The Nigerians of Coca-Cola campaign, which will serve to tell a visual story of a diverse set of people across key regions in the country with different struggles and positive histories with Coca-Cola.

To share fun and interesting stories about the company’s beverages, they are also launching the My Coke Moments campaign, to encourage customers and stakeholders across demographics to share nostalgic moments and memories with their online network of friends.

The company has also planned Share a Trip with Coke which is an activity that will be spreading the recently launched philosophy: Real Magic – aimed to unite and uplift people every day – with renewed relevance for the world we live in today. 

To cap off the exciting activities, Coca-Cola will close the celebration with a celebratory dinner in November 2021 to delight its varied stakeholders.

The icing of the cake in celebrating 70 years of existence is Coca-Cola’s commitment to invest N560 billion (US$1 billion) in the country in the next five years.

The investment will mostly be channelled towards making more positive impact in the lives of people in communities where it operates.

Sustainable manufacturing is also an ongoing priority for the System, with a focus on Energy use reduction, Water use reduction, Emissions reduction and World Without Waste through investments made in installations such as Combiner Heat and Power plant, Effluent treatment plants and hybrid solar power installations in its manufacturing plants.

The system is also set to reinforce its global commitment to make all consumer packaging 100% recyclable by 2025 and to enhance the collection of all packaging material by 2030 through its World Without Waste program.

Managing Director of NBC, Mathieu Seguin said, “We believe that our business is only as sustainable as the communities in which we do business, and this is why we have mainstreamed sustainability into every aspect of our business.”

Some of the areas the fizzy drink maker has had most impact on include education and youth development, women empowerment, water, environmental sustainability, sports and the promotion of commerce and entrepreneurship.

“Anniversaries are an important part of life. They remind us of important events, both personal and cultural. This celebration not only gives us an opportunity to look back at the brand’s storied history in Nigeria but is also an opportunity to highlight our plans for the future,” Alfred Olajide, Managing Director of Coca-Cola Nigeria, remarked.

The celebrations come months after Coca-Cola HBC, the world’s third-largest Coca-Cola anchor bottler expressed its intentions of acquiring a majority stake in Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Egypt (CCBCE) through its subsidiary Coca-Cola HBC Holdings

Finalization of the proposed transaction will enable Coca-Cola HBC access the second largest Non-Alcoholic Ready To Drink market (NARTD) in Africa by volume, building on existing scale in Nigeria.

Liked this article? Subscribe to Food Business Africa News, our regular email newsletters with the latest news insights from Africa and the World’s food and agro industry. SUBSCRIBE HERE