Jamaica’s GraceKennedy expands it’s Africa footprint with launch in Nigeria

Jamaica-based food, financial and money company, The GraceKennedy Group is in the process of widening it’s foot print in Africa, with the launch of its Nurishment line in Nigeria – the country considered to be Africa’s largest economy.

The company has already established itself in Ghana.

Earlier this month, subsidiary Grace Foods Nigeria officially launched Dunn’s River Nurishment (an enriched milk drink), as well as its range of Dunn’s River dry spices. The market for both is estimated in the region of US$600 million.

“While flavored milk is a very big market but low-margin, our target is the high-margin enriched milk drink segment which is in excess of US$100 million. We estimate the dry spice market to be well over US$500 million,” said Ryan Mack, CEO of International Business-GraceKennedy Foods on Monday.

According to Mack, the company is not targeting a set percentage of market growth in the medium term. Instead it is focusing on building the brand. “The main challenge is to develop brand recognition. Most of our marketing activities will be around building product awareness and brand recognition,” he added.

Grace Foods Nigeria’s main competitors are brands Sport Shake for the milk drink category and Maggi for the dry spice market, he pointed out.

About The GraceKennedy Group: The Jamaica-based GraceKennedy Group is one of the Caribbean’s largest and most dynamic food and finance corporate entities. The company which was founded in 1922, now has a corporate foot print in the Caribbean, North and Central America, the United Kingdom and Africa. The company’s mission includes bringing the taste of Jamaica and the Caribbean to the rest of the world.