News

Fast Food Industry Worth N190 Billion

The Nigerian organised fast food industry is currently worth about N190 billion with the potential to grow bigger. Mrs. Olayinka Adedayo, President, Association of Fast Food and Confectioners of Nigeria (AFFCON), said this at a stakeholders' forum on "Excellence and Quality Consumer Services in the Fast Food Industry," weekend, at the Golden Gate Paradise, Ikoyi, Lagos.She said the association was promoting the rich and diverse nutritional culture of the nation through introduction of Nigerian food while our restaurants had become major eateries for Nigerians- young and old, to entertain themselves.

"The restaurant industry has been growing since the 70s and as a result, the industry is healthy.

"Several factors contribute to the consistent growth in the industry. Average disposal income has increased giving families more money to spend on dining out."

Adedayo stated that the cost difference between eating out and cooking at home had decreased.

People's lifestyles are getting increasingly hectic. As a result, people no longer have time to cook meals at home.

The food industry was identified as the leading overall employer of labour, looking at the food supply chain from farm to the table.

Virtually all major professionals-scientists, engineers, marketers, accountants, etc are involved.

She explained that at the processing and retailing levels, the fast food industry employs a lot of workers because it is highly labour intensive.

The management of Quick Service Restaurants require the services of thousands of people starting from outside suppliers and various service providers (architects, builders, estate agents, auditors, accountants, refrigeration and A/C engineers, food scientists and engineers, advertisers, caterers, environmental scientists, computer scientists and IT professionals) who derive their wherewithal through business transactions in the fast food sector.

Some of the challenges faced collectively by fast food restaurant operators include inadequate food processing industries for value added chicken, meat and fish products, frozen and canned vegetables, seasonings, condiments, sauces and spices.

Cost of funds remains high. High bank lending rate, the global economic meltdown and the effect on the value of naira have led to a paucity of funds and high cost of essential materials.

There is also the issue of poor infrastructure, as basic utilities like poor power supply, potable water, poor road network hamper the growth of the industry. Multiple taxation and overlapping roles from tiers of government have increased the cost of running fast food operations in Nigeria.

The AFFCON president told the stakeholders from that there is competition in the industry with a plethora of the informal sector. The informal sector not only eats into the market share of the organized fast food sector, the attendant effect on public health and the environment has far reaching grave effect on the economy.

"However, renewed government focus on providing requisite enlightenment through proper education on hygiene, nutrition and the environment would go a long way in stemming environmental and public health concern."

The forum was put together by the scientific and technical committee of the Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFST), whose national president, Prof. Isaac Adebayo Adeyemi and Vice Chancellor, Bells University of Technology, Ota, gave the welcome address.

Others who presented papers were Dr. Paul Orhii, Director-General, NAFDAC, Prof. I.A. Onimawo, President, Nutrition Society of Nigeria, Mrs. Ify Umenyi, Director-General, Consumer Protection Council while the First Lady of Lagos State, Mrs. Abimbola Fashola, delivered a good will message.

Tastee Fried Chicken Hosts AFFCON 09 end of year party

FESTAC TOWN, NIGERIA - The Association of Fast Food Confectioners of Nigeria AFFCON held it’s 2009 end of year party at the TFC events place banquet hall, Festac town. President of AFFCON and owner of TFC Mrs. Olayinka Pamela Adedayo welcomed association members from other parts of Nigeria including Abuja and Port Harcourt.

AFFCON has rendered several community service initiative including the donation of N2.5M to various states security services trust funds. As expected, guests were treated to an assortment of dishes provided by the members of AFFCON.

The 33rd Annual Conference and General Meeting

Creating New Foods: The Product Developer's Guide is a guide to the basic structure and activities of the Product Development Process - product strategy development, product design and process development, product commercialisation, product launch and evaluation. It is an introduction to food product development as practised in the company environment, designed so that people can build a general understanding as a basis for further study using the textbooks listed at the end of the book.
The book is designed for people starting to work in food product development in the food industry, and for students in an introductory food product development course. It features numerous think breaks, project breaks, and up-to-date examples and case studies from industry, to widen the reader?s knowledge of product development across the whole food industry ? consumer, food service, industrial, primary agricultural/marine, and through the whole of the food chain.
Creating New Foods: The Product Developer's Guide is the third text by the same authors to be published online, funded and hosted by NZIFST, joining Unit Operations in Food Processing, and its companion text,Fundamentals of Food Reaction Technology.