Most caterers in Nigeria are complaining about the poor quality of local (Nigerian) rice as it fails to properly enhance preparation of the country’s popular delicacy known as Jollof rice and disappoints the expectations of consumers.
From discussions with some caterers, they have said that once the Jollof rice is prepared with local rice, it comes out mushy, gummy, and starchy unlike the imported (foreign) rice which comes out better.
Nneke Obi, a caterer said, “People don’t like to eat the Jollof rice prepared from the local one at parties because it is sticky, has a lot of starch and stones. I had to stop using it and stick to the foreign one. Jollof prepared with foreign rice makes it come out in strands and not mushy and gummy.”
“Although, when you prepare Jollof with local rice, the ingredients catch fast and it is tastier than the foreign rice, I still prefer to cook with the foreign one because that is what my customers want,” Obi further said.
Jollof Rice is a popular delicacy eaten in most West Africa countries. It is a fragrant and colourful delicacy made of rice, peppers, tomatoes, spices, onions and vegetable oil. Usually well-garnished, it appeals to all age brackets that are revered across the sub-region for its unique sweet taste and spicy flavour.
Ife Laleye said that when she cooked Jollof rice using Nigerian rice, it did not come out well and nice like the normal Jollof that she cooks. “It came out brownish different from the normal orange like colour. It was stressful to cook it because I had to wash the rice several times to remove the starch and also pick stones from it.
She also said that she had to reduce the amount of water she uses to cook unlike the foreign rice where she uses a lot of water.
On August 20, 2019, Nigeria announced the partial closure of its land borders with the Benin Republic in order to tackle cross border smuggling of rice and other commodities, earlier this month, the government announced a total closure of Nigeria’s land borders to all goods.
Since the closure of the border, the prices of major ingredients of Jollof which are rice, groundnut oil, turkey or chicken have increased making caterers ration the delicacy by selling it at reduced quantities rather than increase the price of the meal due to weak purchasing power in the economy.
“It is very expensive to prepare Jollof rice with the way foreign rice is expensive. The price of groundnut oil, stock from chicken and turkey is high. And I had to ration it. Before I sell a plate of Jollof for N100 but I sell it at half a plate,” Obi said.
Laleye said that she also had to reduce the quantity of her rice to get her money back and that people now buy more.
From July-September, rice, groundnut oil, turkey and chicken were the major food commodities that increased by the market. Before the border closure, a bag of imported rice cost N14, 500-N15, 000 while a bag of locally produced rice cost N13,500 but after the closure, a bag of imported rice now costs N26,000 and a locally produced bag of rice cost N18,000- N19,500.
Also, the price of a kilo of imported turkey has increased by 30.8 percent to N1, 700 from N1, 300, while a kilo of imported chicken increased by 36.4 percent to N1,500 from N1,100.And the price of tomatoes increased by 21 percent to N260. 4 from N215. 1
According to 2019 July Jollof Index by SBM Intelligence, Nigeria’s leading geopolitical intelligence platform, Nigerians are now spending 60 percent more for a family pot of the Jollof than they did three years ago.
Ayodeji Ebo, MD, Afrinvest Securities Limited said, “The spike in the Jollof Rice index over the past three years mirrors the rise in the general price of food products. The recent partial and subsequently full border closure can be attributed to the current rise in price of rice, a major variable in the index.”
With Christmas being just two months away and Jollof rice being the signature to mark the celebration; Nigerians may spend higher by buying a 50kg of imported rice for as high as N50, 000 in December if the land borders remain shut.
Ayorinde Akinloye, a consumer goods analyst at Lagos-based CSL Stockbrokers said that Christmas will definitely be worse as many rice sellers are currently hoarding rice with plans to hike the price significantly in December and this will bound to impact the cost of Jollof rice.
“I think people will opt for other substitutes like Spaghetti and local ball foods like pounded yam maybe other options for consumers in December,” Akinloye further said.
BUNMI BAILEY
