Umeofia: ‘With Proper Incentives, Indigenous Manufacturers Can Fully Support Our Economy’

The Nigerian tomato paste market, which has a few indigenous producers, is dominated by imported products. Erisco Foods Limited is one of the indigenous producers. Following recent concerns of sub-standard and adulterated products flooding the market, however, the President of the food company, Eric Umeofia reassures consumers that its range of products remains one of the few in the country certified good for consumption.

Recently, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration, and Control (NAFDAC) began a series of consultative meetings with importers and indigenous manufacturers of tomato paste in sachets and tins.
]
The meetings were called after a recent Tomato paste survey carried out by NAFDAC on imported Tomato paste from China, revealed that 91 per cent of samples collected were substandard and below prescribed quality standards and specification. Rather than contain the required percentage of raw tomato in addition to other approved ingredients, a large quantity of the imported products were found to be stuffed with starch, corn flour and a generous dosage of unhygienic colour additive and preservatives.

The intent was to tackle the challenge headlong. Among other steps, the move was to enable inspectors of the Agency visit more offices, factories and warehouses of manufacturers and merchants; obtain information as regards importers’ import frequency and distribution network; and also obtain contact information of importers’ manufacturers in China so as to interface directly with them on production standards and requirements. “It may also lead to a national recall of numerous substandard tomato paste in sachets and tins; destruction of such products in some cases and more importantly, a massive consumer education,” the Director General of NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii had said.

In initiating the move and calling the meetings, Orhii stressed that given the wide acceptance of tomato paste as food ingredient in the country and the food safety concerns and health challenges thrown up by the substandard nature of samples tested, it had become expedient to regulate its safety and quality.

There are growing concerns that some of the unhygienic ingredients and colouring added to Tomato paste are not easily broken down or flushed in the system. Rather, they get lodged and may have a connection with rising incidences of unexplainable health conditions in Nigerians.

To this end, Chief Eric Umeofia, President and CEO, Erisco Foods Limited has reassured Nigerians that its products are very wholesome.

With a vision to be one of the largest indigenous Nigerian manufacturers of food products and a mission to produce and package quality products for everyday use, Umeofia says Erisco Food’ cardinal goal is to be a one-stop provider of healthy food variants for Nigerian families.

Giving an overview of its operations and product lines, Umeofia explains: “Ric-Giko tomato paste is, today, our flagship brand. We began operations in 2009, producing and marketing our first brand of Tomato Paste in sachets named Nagiko. Soon after, we introduced Ric-Giko. We currently have three brands of tomato pastes in a range of five tins and sachets. Ric-Giko comes in two variants: the classic, which is only tomato paste while the other is a blend of tomato and pepper paste. Nagiko and Erisco are the other tomato paste brands. We also have other products like Nagiko Sugar, Nagiko Monosodium, Nagiko Basmati Rice in the market.

“We are currently expanding our product lines, introducing new products into the market. Our goal is to be a one-stop provider of healthy food variants for Nigerian families. Erisco Foods Limited is a member of Erisco Bonpet Group, which introduced the very popular Erisco Bonpet Automatic Fire Extinguisher in 1995. We have since changed the face of fire prevention in Nigeria and helped save Nigerian economy billions of Naira from preventable fire incidents.”

Erisco Foods has an installed factory capacity of 240, 000 metric tonnes per annum (first phase) in Oregun, Lagos state. It is the first of its kind and largest tomato paste factory in Africa. Apart from producing and packaging its own range of products in sachets and a range of five can size options, its production capacity is providing genuine importers, packagers and bulk traders of tomato paste the opportunity to start getting their products processed and packaged in the country without the pains of procuring scarce foreign exchange to import packaged tomato paste from Europe and Asia.

Erisco Foods’ investments in the manufacturing sector is in full endorsement and support of government’s Transformation Agenda under the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) and the National Enterprise Development Programme (NEDP) which are both geared towards achieving Nigeria’s lofty industrialization goals. It also has plans to generate direct and indirect employment of over 50,000 within the next three years, and has confidence that with the envisioned continuous execution of the right policies the food and agro-allied industry, it would ultimately generate millions of jobs for teeming Nigerian youths.

During a working visit to its factory complex in Ikeja last year, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, had expressed government’s appreciation of Erisco Foods’ initiative and lauded the backward integration elements of the company’s vision, which includes massive cultivation of tomatoes in selected states across Nigeria. This is to be achieved through the establishment of plantations and special farmers’ co-operatives.

As a further endorsement of the quality of its products, the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) have certified them, Umeofia says. This includes the company’s range of Tomato pastes under the brand names of Ric-Giko, Nagiko and Erisco as they meet all the standards and specifications set out by both agencies and international agencies.

“To this end, after several unannounced inspections, Erisco Foods Limited has been awarded the current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) certificate. That means that Ric-Giko tomato paste is certified excellent for consumption not only in Nigeria but also in the whole world.

“It is however a big pity that while patriotic Nigerian investors like Erisco Foods are busy working very hard to create employment and providing value for Nigerians through wholesome nutritious brands like our Ric-Giko tomato paste, a group of Asians and their Nigerian collaborators have been killing Nigerians by selling them starch and colouring in the name of Tomato paste.

“Reports from a NAFDAC survey revealed that such colouring are carcinogenic and therefore unfit for human consumption. Apart from the cancer-causing colouring, the starch contained in those products is harmful to unsuspecting diabetic patients. This, the importers have been doing by luring unsuspecting Nigerians with banned synthetic colouring agents, which are eye-catching and other substandard ingredients and which sell at cheap prices. However, it has been established that the more red your food is via substandard tomato paste, the more you endanger your life and that of your family,” Umeofia laments.

He discloses that Erisco’s tomato paste is a rich source of Lycopene, a photochemical with many possible health benefits and a natural pigment that gives many red fruits and vegetables their colour. “It has been scientifically proven that Lycopene contains a potent antioxidant that stabilizes free radicals making them harmless and helping the body to dispose of them thereby reducing the risks of cancer and other Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

“However, firstly, the substandard tomato paste contain little or no Lycopene and secondly, the banned colouring used by importers of deadly tomato paste are most times impossible to dispose of from the body. The colourings therefore stick to veins, arteries and vital organs and accumulate to cause cancer, hyper-tension and other diseases. In addition, the banned colouring agents have been proven to cause poor neurological development in children, causing hyperactivity, poor concentration and, hence, poor performance in education and progress in life.

“Apart from killing Nigerians with their substandard tomato paste, these people are also killing the Nigerian economy as they dump these substandard tomato pastes with subsidies from their home government. In the end, genuine manufacturers of tomato pastes find it difficult to remain in business as the consumers unfortunately go for this perceived cheaper tomato paste brands, not knowing they are paying for ill health and untimely death. Nigerians are advised to patronize only made-in-Nigeria food products as manufacturers such as us are always closely monitored by the regulatory agencies unlike imported and smuggled brands that play all manner of tricks to evade regulation, maximize profits and push killer ‘tomato pastes’ into the country.

“It is pertinent to note that the substandard tomato paste dumped in Nigerian cannot be allowed for sale or consumption in US, EU, India, Asia and even in China. It is unfortunate that they turn Nigeria into a dumping ground for such unwholesome food products,” Umeofia says.

Umeofia opines that clearly, what Nigerians have been indulging in concerning tomato paste is “penny wise; pound foolish,” stating that it is better to buy genuine tomato paste at a slightly higher price and enjoy the full 100 per cent health benefits of tomatoes rather than pay for coloured starch which are passed off as tomato paste. “A little Ric-Giko goes a long way. Nigerians must liberate themselves from this food fraud by saying “No” to imported China tomato paste and “Yes” to Nigerian tomato pastes such as Ric-Giko, Nagiko and Erisco. We are using this medium to declare our unflinching support for NAFDAC and SON on their cleansing effort to wipe all fake and substandard tomato pastes out of Nigeria with immediate effect. At Erisco Foods, we have the capacity to provide all the tomato paste needs of the Nigerian market and even across West Africa,” he states.

Umeofia called on governments at the federal and state levels as well as Nigerian consumers to encourage and patronize indigenous local manufacturers, especially in the food sector. “This can be achieved by adopting appropriate attitude, policies and tariff structure to encourage local production and discourage indiscriminate dangerous imports into the country and engender food security for Nigerians, by Nigerians,” he says.