A taste of impact in 3-D: Consumer impacts of bringing new foods to market in West Africa
By?Patrick Guyer and Valéria Varga
West African consumers are always on the lookout for new food products that are high quality, nutritious and - of course - tasty. But in addition to looking at whether new food products sell, we’re also interested to understand what impacts new food products have on the quality of life of low-income consumers in West African markets. You might have seen our earlier work on measuring the impacts of consumer goods in rural Bangladesh, or our research revealing enthusiastic consumer appreciation of a new and improved version of Northern Nigeria’s favorite snack, fura.
In this article, we showcase the impact of food products brought to market in West Africa with Bopinc’s “3-D” approach to impact measurement, and consider take-aways for future projects aiming to improve nutrition through business-based interventions.
What kinds of products, and what impacts do they contribute to?
Our most recent study with 60 Decibels looked into the impacts for low-income consumers of three products brought to market in Mali, Niger and Nigeria through 2SCALE, an African incubator and accelerator program for the agri-food sector implemented by IFDC, SNV and Bopinc. The products we looked at in this study were:?
What kinds of changes in the quality of life of low-income consumers can products like these help bring about? In other studies, we’ve seen a wide range of results to this question. Products like a new, nutritionally-enhanced sorghum-based snack called the fura in Nigeria were so impactful that 95% of consumers told us the snack had improved their quality of life, mainly through better nutrition and health. At the other end of the spectrum, an energy drink sold in rural Bangladesh moved the needle on quality of life for only 2% of consumers who had purchased it.
So how do consumers evaluate these food products on quality of life improvements? To gauge depth of impact, customers were asked to reflect on whether their quality of life had changed because of these products supported by 2SCALE. Around half of NUSEB’s chicken customers, more than half of L&L’s peanut burger customers, and 61% of Keitala Negoce’s soy milk and flour customers, reported that their quality of life improved at least slightly (see graph below).
What kinds of changes in quality of life can these foods contribute to? What kind of impacts are customers feeling? See the table below for the most common self-reported outcomes, and some examples, quoting the customers themselves.
These self-reported outcomes give a good insight into the type of change customers are experiencing. We note though that not all respondents felt that these products did lead to better quality of life: in fact at least four out of 10 respondents for each product reported no change in their quality of life, while one person (out of 285) even reported that their quality of life declined because of the product. Their reasons for the lack of quality of life improvement are often related to the type of products, the availability and variety of alternatives, etc. On the other hand, these responses also highlighted strategic areas of improvement for all three products, which could increase impact. These consumer testimonials are featured in the table below, suggesting that products could be more impactful if brands work to secure customer loyalty and regular purchasing, work on lowering product prices (NUSEB) or improve availability (L&L).
领英推荐
What about impact duration?
Above, we’ve looked at the reach of these products and the depth of impact as experienced by low-income consumers. The final “D” in “3-D” is to consider the duration of impact, or whether products consumers feel are beneficial are available consistently over time. We have measured this using a simple question that asks respondents whether a specific product is always, mostly, sometimes, rarely or never available when they want to buy it. The figure below shows responses to this question provided by consumers of Keitala Négoce soya products, the L&L peanut burger and NUSEB’s chicken.?
Consumers of all three products indicate a range of experiences when purchasing these food items. About half of buyers of L&L Peanut Burger consumers in Nigeria and Keitala soya products in Mali say that these products are always or mostly available when looking for them. However about a quarter of Keitala Négoce customers also say that their soy milks and flour are never or rarely available, suggesting that this company is struggling with some distribution challenges. For customers of NUSEB chicken and the Peanut Burger, the most common experience is that these products are sometimes available when customers wish to buy them. All three companies have ample room for improvement on making products consistently available to customers.?
Lessons to take forward?
In this article, we’ve looked at the impacts of accessing three new food products in West African markets through a “3-D” lens of impact: distribution of product reach as well as depth and duration of impact. While all three products are reaching large customer segments, this approach reveals distinctions in how much each contributes to positive changes in the quality of life of consumers, showing that companies behind all three of these products have work to do on making their goods consistently available in the markets where they operate.?
One specific lesson from this research is that brand-new food products can make a splash with low-income consumers when they compete on quality, nutrition and price. Nine out of ten Keitala Négoce customers say that they cannot find an alternative to the soy milk and? flour on their local market, attesting to just how novel these products are in Mali. That presents a real risk for the company, but consumers are getting to know these products and appreciate them for their nutritional value, price and taste. Ketiala Négoce also benefits from positive word-of-mouth: its customers give its products a Net Promoter Score of 71 in our survey. One challenge the company now needs to address is ensuring consistent availability of its products on local markets.?
We’ve shown previously that helping entrepreneurs improve a well-known local product can help them reach low-income consumers with healthier options. The experience of NUSEB chicken points to how this can go off-course. While about half of NUSEB customers surveyed felt that their quality of life had improved at least somewhat because of the product, customer satisfaction was fairly low, partly due to inconsistent availability and prices that some consumers felt were too high. NUSEB’s products have the potential to contribute to a better quality of life, but some tweaks to the business and distribution model are needed to help it take off.
About the study
In partnership with 60 Decibels, we conducted consumer-level deep-dives into the impacts of products supported by 2SCALE in Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger and Nigeria. Respondents were randomly selected for phone interviews from customer lists (some studies also surveyed non-buyers to generate additional insights) obtained from retailers and distributors. Sample sizes varied depending on the consumer base of different products and other factors. In total, 765 consumers of these products responded to survey rounds conducted between 2021 and 2022.?