First Bank Stimulates Food and Beverages Industry

Raheem Akingbolu, who witnessed the fiesta of flavours, a food and beverage fair, organised by First Bank of Nigeria, reports that the show further reaffirmed the commitment of the financial giant to the growth of SMEs in the country

With the theme: ‘Food, Fun, and Family’, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, had successfully hosted the 2016 edition of its Fiesta of Flavours, a food and beverage fair showcasing the entertainment, art and business of food. Beyond the entertainment approach given the event, it was no doubt a reawakening move to encourage players in the food and drink industry. The event was hosted in partnership with Eventful Limited, a renowned event management company.

The fiesta, which attracted many foods & drinks vendors, was designed by the bank to show its commitment to diversification of the economy through support for the business, art and entertainment of food across all sectors of the economy. Some of the highlights of the event include; cooking competitions, children’s cooking corner, celebrity chef cooking classes, exclusive wine tasting, among others.

Some of the participants at the show, who spoke to THISDAY admitted that it was a good move that was capable of rescuing the economy and reawakening the players in the food and beverage sector. Though, it was designed to boost the Small Medium Enterprises(SMEs) sector of the industry, the two-day event achieved more than that for both the brand and participants, who were mostly small scale entrepreneurs. For the brand, it was another opportunity to create a robust affinity with its patrons. And for participants, the event remained an eye opener that would redefine their entrepreneurial spirit. Above all, by the second day of the event, when the curtain was drawn on the event, it was obvious that the economy was the biggest beneficiary from the initiative.

Aside creating an opportunity for participants to learn how to make profitable businesses out of food and drinks, there was also a showcasing of a diverse range of local and international cuisines.

Objective and evaluation
Speaking on what the show was out to achieve, the Head, Media and External Communications at First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Mr. Babatunde Lasaki, stated that the financial company is always willing to support anything that would enhance development.

He said: “As organisation, First Bank has always thrown its weight behind anything that would enhance development and empowerment in line with government’s decision to diversify the economy. What better way to promote that initiative than giving our support to the value chain of food industry and encourage the entrepreneurs in the industry. To us, the large food economy is an important part of the economy. We also believe food is the new oil.

“Between last year and now, many organisations have seen that food is the new oil. The fact that we pioneered it and many people are now emulating it shows that there is huge potential there. This year edition is a lot bigger and livelier than the first edition. Last year was like a test run, this year more vendors showed up to showcase their talents,”
One of the vendors, Mrs Anthonia Ojenagbon, who runs Silton African Kitchen in Lagos described the event as an exciting opportunity for players in the food and drink industry. The entrepreneur, who said she heard about it on the Instagram, said the patronage at the event was encouraging.

“We are participating for the first time and we will continue to do so. We came in with the determination to ride on our unique selling point, which is ‘proudly Nigerian food’ to give the best to our customers. To me, First Bank has created a huge opportunity for food vendors to explore. Here, we serve Pepe snails called pepelicious snail, pepe gini foul and other mouth watering Nigerian dishes in a special way,”
Another vendor, Oluwaseun Ayanlaja, who runs a company called; Chef-On-Wheels, specialising in cuisines from Asian, Indian, Germany, with a blend of Nigerian foods, said the event is an opportunity for her to step up her game.
“The food fiesta has given me opportunity to further showcase my food and drinks to corporate guys and other members of the society. I will encourage government and other corporate organisations to key into this to develop the industry,”

Economic importance

Realising that support for the agricultural value chain and by extension food, will enable individual and communal self-reliance, self-contentment and self-sufficiency, the bank used the fiesta to take ownership of the food space to fully promote businesses that will build the sector, build revenue for development purposes, create employment opportunities and in the long run translate to national growth and development

In a statement signed by the bank’s Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, Folake Ani-Mumuney, the organisation ventured into the food space as part of its interventions to support agriculture across the entire value chain as well promote economic growth and sustainability, especially in the face of dwindling oil revenue.

“We are also keen on promoting a united community through the arts and Fiesta of Flavours would bring youths and families together to enjoy the entertainment value of food” she further stated.
Speaking at the event, the CEO, Eventful, Mrs. Yewande Zaccheaus said her company was indeed pleased to partnered with FirstBank and thankful for the bank’s support in hosting fiesta.

“Nigerians who participated learnt and experienced a lot about our food. It was a culinary journey to discover the splendid art of Food. Fiesta of Flavours and it showed that we have a rich heritage that can be expressed and exported all over the world. Considering the turn out and commendation from gusts, I think it met our expectation”

Competitive edge
Over the years, First Bank of Nigeria has remained a leading brand in the financial sector, by redirecting its functions to focus more on the commercial and retail segments of the market; it is obvious that it will continue to have a competitive edge in the market.

In positioning and management, the brand has always made a brand statement that espouses its essence. Being a proactive brand with rich heritage, the bank and its promoters have continued to ride on innovation and excellent banking service to give patrons unique customer experience. In a way, this has in return reflected on its balance sheet. As things stand today, it appears First Bank major competition in the financial sector is still First Bank. Like every good brand that understands the core message of positioning, the bank truly understands its competition and then works daily on its competitive advantage.

All these were confirmed last year, when the leading retail bank brand, was officially recognised as the first financial institution in the country to achieve a transaction volume of 100 million transactions in a month by Interswitch Transnational -Africa’s leading integrated payment and transaction processing company.
According to the Interswitch, this milestone feat was achieved in the month of December 2015 and represents the total transactions processed by FirstBank’s Front End Processor running on the Interswitch transaction switching platform which seamlessly links all financial institutions in Nigeria to facilitate better and quicker transactions across all platforms.

As Nigeria’s leading financial institution with over 10 million customers, this achievement by FirstBank is said to be clearly aligns with its strategic intent to promote financial inclusion, support the cashless policy drive of the Central Bank of Nigeria and boost economic growth via e-payments across Nigeria and the African continent.