N500 Gala sparks cost-of-living debate

Once a humble N50 snack in the 2000s, Gala has now evolved with a premium N500 offering — igniting a heated cost-of-living debate. N500 Gala.

Social media and public discourse reflect Nigerians’ deep attachment to Gala as a cultural icon tied to its former N50 price. Since February, the snack has been at the center of widespread discussions after UAC Foods introduced a new variation at a retail price of N500.

“How can I buy Gala of N50 for N500?” Tolani, a final-year student at the University of Lagos said. This same sentiment was shared by Ann, a fresh graduate from the University of Port Harcourt.

She said “It feels weird buying Gala for N500, even though it’s a bigger size.”

Many Nigerians argue they would never pay N500 for a product they still associate with its N50 legacy. However, what many fail to recognize is that the new product is almost double the size compared to what is now called the “old Gala”. While the former product was 65 grams, the N500 Gala is 120 grams.

Also, an inflationary analysis reveals that Nigeria’s cumulative inflation rate since 2009 stands at 795 percent, making price increases inevitable.

The rise of Gala

Originally launched by UAC Foods in 1962, Gala became a household staple by the late 1990s and early 2000s. Its affordability and easy accessibility in Lagos’ notorious traffic jams made it a go-to snack, often enjoyed alongside plastic-bottled soft drinks, especially LaCasera.

Gala resonated particularly with young consumers — secondary school and university students, as well as working-class millennials in the early 2010s — solidifying its place in Nigeria’s snack culture.

However, inflationary pressures forced UAC Foods to adapt. In 2010, the company introduced Gala Mega for N100 while keeping the original Gala at N50. This strategy was short-lived as competition intensified. Rival brands like Bigi Beef Sausage Roll, introduced in 2010, gained prominence by the mid-2010s.

By 2014, UAC Foods was forced to increase the price of the original Gala to N70. Given that the snack had maintained a stable price for over a decade, the adjustment triggered a national response, including reactions from the Nigerian Labour Congress and discussions with then-Information Minister Labaran Maku.

Over time, both Gala and Gala Mega saw reductions in size, with the latter eventually disappearing from the market. Meanwhile, Gala’s price fluctuated, and a decline in product quality further eroded its appeal, particularly among millennials who once viewed it as a cultural staple.

Read also: UACN’s profit hits 10-year high on product offering

Gala’s market shift and leadership change

Between 2015 and 2023, Nigeria’s sausage roll market grew increasingly competitive. Rite Foods’ Rite Sausage Roll and Bigi Sausage Roll gained market share, alongside Superbite (Chi Foods) and Yum Yum Sausage (Food Concepts Pioneer). During this period, Gala gradually lost its dominance.

In 2023, UAC Foods appointed Oluyemi Oloyede as CEO, a seasoned consumer goods expert with experience at Procter & Gamble, L’Oréal, Kellogg’s, and Irish food brand Kerry.

One of Oloyede’s first moves was launching the “King of the Streets” marketing campaign for Gala. The campaign reinvigorated the brand, driving UAC Foods to post its best financial performance since 2017, with a pre-tax profit of N2.23 billion.

The Return of “Old Gala”

In 2024, Gala regained market leadership as UAC Foods expanded its product lineup. The company introduced Gala Chin Chin and relaunched Kingsway Bread, pushing UAC Foods to become the most profitable subsidiary of UAC of Nigeria, with a record-breaking N6.7 billion pre-tax profit—its highest in over a decade.

Building on this momentum, UAC Foods took a bold step to revive the classic Gala experience. Unlike past iterations such as Gala Mega (2010), the new product carries no special branding. Instead, it meets consumer demand for a return to tradition—offering a larger roll with more beef, without any gimmicks.

Despite positive reviews and nostalgia among middle-class Nigerians, the N500 Gala remains scarce on the streets. Many kiosk owners and hawkers claim they are unaware of the product, while others fear that demand may be too weak at such a price point.

With the new product selling at N10,500 for a pack of 26 pieces, it is quite expensive for street hawkers. To address this, the company encouraged its distributors to offer the product on credit, allowing hawkers to make payments at the end of the day.

A convenience store owner in Igando, Lagos, shared:

“People here are still complaining about the N200 version—how can I stock the N500 one? They simply won’t buy it.”

A reflection of Nigeria’s economic reality

While UAC Foods is not responsible for Nigeria’s cost-of-living crisis, Gala’s transformation reflects a stark economic shift. With pre-rebasing inflation figures at 34.80 percent, staple items that were once readily available on every street corner are now increasingly confined to supermarkets, highlighting the widening affordability gap.

The N500 Gala is still in its early days, and it may eventually become as mainstream as the N200 version. However, the shift is part of a broader trend—many household essentials, from canned sardines to 2kg bags of Semovita, milk tins, and juice boxes, are disappearing from convenience stores and moving into large supermarkets. This shift underscores the ongoing decline in Nigeria’s informal trade sector, where rising costs continue to push everyday essentials out of reach for the average Nigerian.

Gala’s price hike is not just a business decision—it is a reflection of Nigeria’s economic transformation. Whether Nigerians will eventually embrace the new Gala remains to be seen, but its journey tells a larger story about inflation, shifting consumer habits, and the future of affordable convenience foods in Nigeria.