Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, has indicted Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited and Nigerian Bottling Company for alleged misleading trade descriptions and unfair marketing tactics in their products, using ‘Original Taste, less Sugar’.
FCCPC disclosed this in a statement released to reporters on Thursday.
The commission in the statement found Coca-Cola Nigeria and NBC in violation of section 116 of the FCCPC Act as well as section 124 1(a) of the Commission’s Establishment Act.
Detailing the accusation of years of investigation, FCCPC said Coca-Cola Nigeria Ltd and NBC were guilty of deceiving the public by describing the variant of its Coca-Cola ‘Original Taste, Less Sugar’ as the same as its ‘Original Taste’ variant in terms of formulation.
The Commission stressed that the issue of Abuse of Dominance and the appropriate penalty under the FCCPA and Administrative Penalties Regulation 2020 (APR) have been reserved for further regulatory action, with penalties to be imposed in due course.
“Accordingly, and considering that the conduct continues and remains, the Commission has entered, issued and served its Final Order on Coca-Cola and NBC on July 29, 2024. The Final Order contains the Commission’s findings:
Misleading trade descriptions under Section 116 FCCPA by continuing to mislead consumers to believe Coca-Cola Original Taste is not materially different from Coca-Cola Original Taste ‘Less Sugar’.
“Unfair marketing tactics: Contrary to Section 124(1)(a) of the FCCPA, Coca-Cola Nigeria markets Coca-Cola Original Taste Less Sugar in packaging first, indistinguishable, and now not sufficiently distinguishable from Coca-Cola Original Taste, contrary to Sections 123(1)(a), (b), and (c) of the FCCPA”, the commission stated.
Coca-Cola has yet to react to the accusation as of the time of filing this report.