Federal Competition and Consumers Protection Commission, FCCPC, has accused the Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited and Nigerian Bottling Company for allegedly misleading Nigerians about its trade descriptions. The Commission stated that Coca-Cola is employing unfair marketing tactics in their products, using ‘Original Taste, less Sugar’.
This was contained in a statement by FCCPC and made available to newsmen on Thursday.
The Commission maintained that Coca-Cola Nigeria and NBC are in violation of section 116 of the FCCPC Act. And as well as section 124 1(a) of the Commission’s Establishment Act.
The statement stated that years of investigation has revealed that Coca-Cola Nigeria Ltd and NBC were guilty of deceiving the public. This, the Commission said, Coca-Cola has done by describing the variant of its ‘Original Taste, Less Sugar’ as the same as its ‘Original Taste’ variant in terms of formulation.
It stated 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. FCCPA said appropriate penalties would be imposed on Coca-Cola in due course.
The Statement read in part, “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.
However, Coca-Cola is yet to react to FCCPA allegations as at the time of this report.
source: Daily Post
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