Nigerian Breweries Plc has issued a new price review notification to all its customers in the West Zone.
According to a letter dated Monday, February 12, 2024, the price review, effective Monday, February 19, 2024, is deemed necessary to offset the impact of increased production expenses.
“This is to inform you that we are constrained to review the prices of some of our SKUs with effect from Monday, February 19, 2024.
“This review has become necessary because of continued rising input costs and the need to mitigate the impact,” the statement said.
The company assured customers that those who had fully paid for orders before the specified date would be honoured at the existing prices.
However, orders exceeding the communicated quantity window will be subject to the revised pricing.
“In appreciation of our great partnership and your commitment, we will deliver at current prices all open orders that are fully funded and created in our system before 00.00 hrs on Monday, February 19, 2024.
“The exact quantity of orders that will be allowed will be communicated to you by your Regional Business Manager (RBM). Any order in excess of this quantity will be re-invoiced at the new price on the 19th of February 2024,” the statement added.
The price adjustment by the FMCG company is believed to have been a result of the rising cost of production, worsened by forex volatility.
Recall that, from January 2023 until date, no fewer than seven multinationals have either left or announced their decision to exit the country by December.
In March, Unilever announced the exit of its home care and skin cleansing operations from Nigeria.
Barely four months later, in precisely July 2023, Nigeria’s second-biggest drug producer and British pharmaceutical giant, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc, announced an end to manufacturing operations in Nigeria.
Like GSK Plc, this French pharmaceutical multinational, Sanofi, announced its decision to quit Nigeria.
Many of these companies have spent decades doing business in Nigeria, while others are folding up operations barely 3 years after announcing their arrivals.
Before 2023, some of the challenges faced by local and multinational manufacturers in Nigeria were the power crisis, constant devaluation of the naira, and forex availability, coupled with other stringent policies of the government.
But following President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s inauguration on May 29, 2023, many things changed, including inflation on all fronts.
President Tinubu, in his inaugural speech, announced fuel subsidy removal, which has now affected Nigerians of all social strata, and directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to begin monetary policy reforms.