NIGERIA – Multinational soft beverage manufacturer, the Coca-Cola Company said it has acquired full ownership of Nigeria’s leading juice producer, Chi Limited.
Coca-Cola first acquired a minority investment in Chi Limited in 2016 holding a 40% stake in the company from Tropical General Investments Group, the holding company for Chi Limited.
Peter Njonjo, president of the West Africa business unit of Coca-Cola said the Coca-Cola will company will continue supporting Achi limited in enhancing capacity building and its business expansion.
“We will support the Chi management team in building on the company’s remarkable heritage and achievements, while using the scale of the Coca-Cola system to replicate their success in more markets across Africa,” he said.
This acquisition further signals Coca-Cola’s optimism about Africa’s consumer opportunity and a commitment to its long-term investment and growth plan on the continent, where it has been present for more than 90 years.
“Coca-Cola is continuing to evolve as a total beverage company, and Chi’s diverse range of beverages perfectly complements our existing portfolio, enabling us to accelerate expansion into new categories and grow our business in Africa,” Mr Njonjo added.
In a September 2018, Mr Njonjo had said that Coca-Cola’s ambitions to diversify its product portfolio and providing more affordable products propelled its prospects of increasing stake at Chi Limited’s.
“We realise that in certain pack formats you can only go down so low.
But once you start looking at pouches and still products, like juice and drinking yoghurts – that allows you to start accessing much lower price points.
Affordability will start becoming a bigger issue in this market than it was in the past. As a company, that is what we need to factor in as we are thinking about the future of our business in Nigeria,” he said.
Chi is recognized in West Africa as an innovative, fast-growing leader in expanding beverage categories, including juices, value-added dairy and iced tea and a wide customer base.
The company was established in Nigeria in 1980 and has grown into a rich product portfolio under the Chivita brand for juice products and the Hollandia brand for value added dairy products.
