The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has issued a warning to Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited (Coca-Cola) and the Nigerian Bottling Company Limited (NBC) regarding the use of misleading trade descriptions.
In a statement on Thursday, the FCCPC accused the companies of engaging in unfair practices that mislead consumers.
The commission stated that Coca-Cola and NBC have been deceptive by marketing the “Original Taste, Less Sugar” variant of Coca-Cola as identical to the “Original Taste” variant in terms of formulation.
“In June 2019, the FCCPC discovered that Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited and Nigerian Bottling Company Limited had begun transitioning their Coke brand from a formulation containing regular sugar to one with non-nutritive sweeteners,” the statement reads. “This transition, although incomplete at the time, followed previous undisclosed changes in the formulations of other brands like Fanta and Sprite, as later revealed by the investigation.”
The commission noted that these actions appeared to violate FCCPA provisions against misleading trade descriptions and unfair marketing tactics. It also raised concerns about whether certain pricing strategies in specific regions of Nigeria were a result of market power, potentially constituting an abuse of dominant market position.
