The fast food value chain recorded an impressive performance despite the economic recession of 2016 and early 2017. The growth recorded is not unconnected with the birth of food delivery startups in major cities across the country.
These startups dominate the fast food chain as more people now prefer to order their foods from the comfort of their offices or homes and in the twinkling of an eye, the delivery man knocks at the door. Most fast food retail outlets now have home delivery services coupled with strong online presence where people can order the meals of their choice.
Waiting time for food delivery is dependent on the distance from the restaurant to the customer’s location. Hence, restaurants that have a network of branches have advantages in this regard. (e.g.Domino’s Pizza)
This article seeks to review the fast food industry in 2017 and project a general outlook for 2018.
Major food outlets that dominated 2017
Jumia Foods: (formerly Hello Foods) boasts of a good selection of over 120 restaurants around popular cities in the country.
The platform has a mobile app through which customers can make their menu selections from the nearest restaurants for home delivery. The platform allows customers to pay for food on delivery with extra charges like service fee, container charge, as well as VAT.
Domino’s Pizza: Nigerians no doubt love good food and their love for pizza is amazing. Domino’s Pizza seems to be the market leader in this segment.
The restaurant has witnessed rapid expansion since 2012 and now has over 120 locations in major cities across the country. Domino’s Pizza has 27 stores spread across major locations in Lagos and this has helped in faster delivery of food to customers. Orders are usually via phone calls.
Chicken Republic: It started operations in 2004 and has witnessed rapid expansion – it currently has 65 locations across the country.
The food menu ranges from African spiced chicken, to burger and sandwiches. The fast food house, as part of its corporate social responsibility, recently partnered with Airtel to feed over 5000 less privileged people in Lagos during the yuletide season.
Smoothie Express: It is located in high-brow Ademola Odeku, Victoria Island, Lagos.
This is a lifestyle brand which focuses on delivering healthy meals to customers’ doorsteps. Their menu list entails smoothies of different fruit blends from Zobo Fusion, to Mango Surprise, Berries Fete, etc. The menu list also includes sandwiches and fitness blends.
Kilimanjaro: This is no doubt one of the leading restaurants that dominated the ecosystem in 2017.
With 25 locations spread across the country, their menu covers major Nigerian offerings in addition to sandwiches and pastries such as, sharwama, moi moi (leaf) and pasta (spaghetti). The minimum order is N1000 with an estimated delivery time of 45minutes.
Glover Court Suya: It is located in a serene and cozy environment on Glover Court, off Glover road in Ikoyi, Lagos.
For lovers of suya meat this is surely a place to be. The menu list ranges from chicken suya to beef suya, liver suya and gizzard suya just to mention a few. They offer home delivery services to residents in Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Lekki within 45minutes. This is definitely the home of quality and nutritious suya in Lagos.
Will this signal an end to road-side mama-put?
Nigerians love good food and with the proliferation of fast food outlets in the country, there are fears in certain quarters that this may signal an end to the popular road side mama-put. Contrary to that school of thought, if recent trends and feedback are anything to go by, the Mama-put segment of the market will continue to thrive.
Most people still rely on the road side food joint as this obviously comes at a reduced price when compared to the fast food joint. The Mama Lati food joint located beside Tafa Balewa Square (TBS) on the Lagos Island is always filled to capacity with people of different social status coming together to enjoy their favorite, most times, local delicacies. Apart from being cheaper, most people believe that the road side food tastes better and fresher than the fast food which most believe has undergone different processing for preservation.
What is the outlook for 2018?
No doubt, the fast food industry has continued to emerge with new trends and packages for its customers. The 2018 outlook is very bright and promising as the food outlets are already out with various promotions and discount offers to further increase their sales and customer base. Many startups are also expected to join the existing players; hence, making the competition stiffer. This means that existing players must be on their toes.
Many of the fast food houses visited however complained of erratic power supply as most times they run their businesses on generators and this has further led to an increase in the cost of business. Findings also reveal that food outlets with bigger presence on different locations have the better advantage of serving their customers faster and better.
More cheering is the fact that the increase in the number of fast food outlets is not a threat to the road side mama-put as the ecosystem can conveniently accommodate both the fast food segment and the mama-put outlets. Different strokes for different folks, you may call it.