The Nigerian Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, has indicted the Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited as well as the Nigerian Bottling Company, for what it alleged to be misleading trade descriptions and unfair marketing strategies in their products, using ‘Original Taste, less Sugar’.
The FCCPC management, in a statement, said it was convinced, based on evidence, that Coca-Cola and NBC on multiple occasions and counts violated, and remained in violation of FCCPA, particularly with respect to transparency and clear disclosure obligations to their product patrons.
According to the statement, the commission found the Coca-Cola Nigeria and NBC to be in violation of section 116 of the FCCPC Act as well as section 124 1(a) of the Commission’s Establishment Act.
Releasing details of the accusation following years of investigation, FCCPC stated that Coca-Cola Nigeria Ltd and NBC were guilty of deceiving Nigerians by describing the variant of its Coca-Cola product ‘Original Taste, Less Sugar’ as the same as its ‘Original Taste’ variant in terms of its formulation.
The Commission insisted that the issue of Abuse of Dominance and the appropriate penalty under the FCCPA and Administrative Penalties Regulation 2020 (APR) have been reserved for further regulatory action, with penalties to be imposed in due course.
The release reads in parts: “Accordingly, and considering that the conduct continues and remains, the Commission has entered, issued and served its Final Order on Coca-Cola and NBC on July 29, 2024. The Final Order contains the Commission’s findings:
“Misleading trade descriptions under Section 116 FCCPA by continuing to mislead consumers to believe Coca-Cola Original Taste is not materially different from Coca-Cola Original Taste ‘Less Sugar’.
“Unfair marketing tactics: Contrary to Section 124(1)(a) of the FCCPA, Coca-Cola Nigeria markets Coca-Cola Original Taste Less Sugar in packaging first, indistinguishable, and now not sufficiently distinguishable from Coca-Cola Original Taste, contrary to Sections 123(1)(a), (b), and (c) of the FCCPA.”
Coca-Cola is yet to make any reaction to the accusation as of the time of publishing this report.
