Eat ‘N’ Go Limited has experienced more than average growth in Nigeria’s quick service restaurant industry.PATRICK McMICHAEL, CEO of Eat ‘N’ Go, highlights some of the factors responsible for this phenomenal success and a new partnership with Slum2School to give back to host communities.He spoke to BusinessDay’s ofOSTEPHEN ONYEKWELU
Less than 12 months as CEO of Eat ‘N’ Go in Nigeria, what are some of your first impressions of Nigeria?
My impressions vary on different levels. On the business side it is the sheer scale of the business opportunity in Nigeria, an infrastructure heavy opportunity.
When you go to many mature markets around the world, you find yourself competing with 30 other similar businesses but in Nigeria it is not like that. It is really exciting.
It is also exciting to be part of the fabric of Nigerian society and to develop a formidable team. We have 2000 people working for us and we promote from within. It is exciting to see people’s faces, when you give them a promotion.
The other fabric we are going to talk about today is the Slum2School partnership. I have been part of the business for 30 years and this is the first opportunity I have to give back to the community where we operate. Even in developed markets everyone talks about it but very few do it in a meaningful way. You cannot not only take, you need to give back.
Why have you partnered with Slum2School?
Our partnership with Slum2School is strategic given Nigeria’s growing and eventual ageing of the population. If education is not taken seriously right now, when Nigeria becomes the largest population in the world, it is going to be a struggle. This is why we have decided to get involved in education. The way Slum2School works fits our DNA.
It is understandable that you chose education,but why did you choose Slum2School as partner charity organisation You could have as well adopted a public school?
There are two reasons for Slum2School. One, we have a working relationship with them already to see they were actually putting children in school. Secondly, we wanted something that had reach across everywhere that we operate.
We want to give back to the communities where we actually operate. If money is coming to you from a community, then money has to be given back to that community. If I adopt a school in Lagos, whereas the money is coming from Port-Harcourt, that does not work. We want to create a system the enables people in a market fund a charity that is giving back to their community.
Slum2School interestingly has some really big vision, similar to ours. They were really ambitious in growing their model and in less than six years actually outsourcing it to other countries; and other countries want to use their model. What is beautiful about their model is that they use a lot of volunteers.
The partnership entails sending 1000 pupils to school, what is its value in monetary terms, how sustainable is it?
The value of the sponsorship is N50 million this year and next year we hope to grow it again.Sustainability comes in two levels. We are raising the funds off of deserts and for as long as we continue to grow as a company; we will continue to support this charity. We also want to be seen as a company that gives back to society and if this drives more business to us, then we will continue to give, of course.
The more people come to us as we grow this partnership, the more we will give back to the community. It is important for the community that we are helping educate young children, who otherwise would not have a chance to go to school.
Eat ‘N’ Go has been quite successful in the Nigerian market, what is the secret, given that it is a tough business landscape to navigate?
Everybody wants to know the secret. Look, you have to fall down and fail to become successful.This business had to learn how to get power, how to get water into the business and how to get each of these business units up and running and how to get the product into the country.
Trial and error are the power to success. Fail once, not twice. Every bit of learning for us along the way has been one of correcting our course; we keep what works and throw out what does not.
We are conservative but aggressive at the same time. We push forward on all fronts. On the outside everyone sees growth. But it is more like a duck swimming in the pond. It seems to move effortlessly but underneath you bet the duck is paddling aggressively.
To setup a shop there is a lot that goes into it; from assessing the site, to building budget for the site, to costing to build on the site and to getting the entire infrastructure in place.
This also means developing menus that will be in line with the customer expectations in Nigeria across three brands. It implies hiring enough staff; providing enough education for staff and working with banks on providing funding into the business.
Our shops are fully self-sufficient; we can run off-grid for over a week. We control our supply chain from our own warehouse, to our factories and shops.
We are in control of the chain all the way to the customer’s front door. There is no one reason for the success. There are 2000 people across Nigeria working tirelessly to keep us going. We work really hard. Some people sleep in the office sometimes. We have delivered pizzas in conditions you cannot imagine. We place no limits to ambition of staff members, who have brilliant ideas to grow the company.
I have been in the pizza business for 29 years and I tell you, this is the hardest market to sell pizzas. I do not mean demand because demand is strong. But to get that pizza to the counter or to that front door is an amazing amount of work and infrastructure, the most in the entire world.
What is the duration of Eat ‘N’ Go’s partnership with Slum2School?
There is no end in my mind. We have setup the Eat ‘N’ Go Foundation, through which we are funding the partnership. It has lain dormant for five years since we set it up. Since the company was setup there has been desire to get involved with the community. But as the company grew, all the intensity of attention was focused on growth but this time for us to look around and give back to society.
When I came to the business I thought we now have size and scale and it is time to get the foundation working, giving back to the society. We cannot just be experiencing all this growth and have the communities we operate in untouched.
For as long as we are successful and the customers are still coming to us, then we will be giving back. As long as Slum2School follows through on the agreement, then there is no reason for us to move away from it. I will like to see it grow in scale over the next five years.
How have your customers been reacting to this partnership?
There some initial reactions online. We posted this in December and in January; we have had 600 views so far. We are tying it to waffles for consones. Every waffle a customer buys with consone, we give N100 back to the community.
People have responded with comments “such as we are buying more waffles this year, Nigerian kids must be educated. We are really proud, let us eat more ice-cream.” These are early reactions and what people say on socials is good gauge. The most exciting day will probably be the day we hand over the check to Slum2School.
