Shopping For Ideas

Players, big and small, in Nigeria’s retail industry have no option but to adopt a raft of disruptive technologies to stay relevant in the big, booming demography.

- Peace Hyde

ONE WOULD THINK THAT IN the constantly variable world of retail consumption, where products on demand fly off the shelves in the blink of an eye, the founder of a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company of considerable repute might also be constantly on the edge, surrounded by MIS reports and product presentations.

Yet, there is an air of calmness when one steps into the office of Peeyush B. Garg, the founder and chairman of Daraju Industries. Daraju, whose flagship products MYMY and Extreme brands of toothpaste are patronized by millions of Nigerians every day, has built a reputation of being the product of choice for the country’s low-income consumers as well as the middle class. It augurs well for a company that started trading less than a decade ago with a vision to become a leading household and personal care manufacturing company.

From his office in the bustling business district of Ladipo, Garg has built his company, brick by brick, from the ground up, in Africa’s most populous economy. After recently closing a round of capex investment with African Capital Alliance (ACA), to expand its portfolio of products, the company is set to continue its growth across Nigeria and beyond. In an uncertain economic climate, Garg is looking to capitalize on the booming population growth in Nigeria.

“The FMCG market in Nigeria is very competitive especially in the home and personal care space where you have so many competing products. We are at the early stages of what we seek to achieve,” says Garg.

According to the Nigerian Economic Outlook 2019 report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) in Nigeria, the country is projected to add another 200 million to its 190 million population, and expected to surpass the United States, currently the world’s third most populous country, by 2050.