Food Seasoning: Is it a Powdered Season?

A cursory look at Lagos markets reveals an upsurge in the number of powdered food seasoning brands competing for market share alongside the usual cube seasonings. In this piece, Ndubuisi Eluwa examines the situation, wondering if the future of food seasoning is powder.
Long before now, locust beans, popularly known as Iru among the Yorubas, Dawa Dawa among the Hausas and Ogiri among the Igbos was largely used as food seasoning. However, the process of getting this local seasoning ready for use is somewhat cumbersome. Today, civilization has affected every aspect of our lives  including our choice of food seasonings.
Food seasonings have created a huge market in Nigeria with many different brands springing up. While some have been able to stand the test of time, others have not. Among those that have stood the test of time are Maggi Star from the stable of Nestle, which has been extended variously; Knorr, formerly on the stable of Cadbury, now on the stable of Unilever;  Royco on stable of Unilever; and Doyin on the stable of Doyin Group.
Of late, the market has been awash with assorted brands of seasonings both made in and outside Nigeria including a growing number of powdered food seasonings. The trend seems to have been championed by Promasidor which made a success of its flagship brand, Cowbell Powdered Milk and reinvented the packaging of food seasoning in Nigeria with the introduction of Onga which comes in flavours of classic, stew and chicken, all in powdery forms. Unilever was the first to experiment with powdered food seasoning in Nigeria with Royco Chop Mix, but did not capitalize on its gains. However, the successful reintroduction of powdered seasoning, albeit by another company, seems to have prompted a rethink from the company.
Chukwuemeka Sunday, a trader at Agege, who claims to have noticed consumer acceptability of powdered seasonings told M2 that, “The number of this type of seasoning is fast growing in the market. I see a situation where they will not only create serious competition but may eventually replace the cube forms.”
At the last count, over five other brands of powdered food seasonings have ventured into the market “thereby raising rivalry,” other sources say.
The spate of additions, especially the addition of Maggi Mix’py by Nestle known for various Maggi flavours in cube form, has prompted speculations that powdered seasonings are on the verge of replacing cubes. Those in favour of this argument believe that the powdered seasonings come in better packages making for longer shelf life. They are also easier to use.
These powdered seasonings no doubt come in very attractive packages which, some say, make them more appealing and trendy. Olajumoke Agboola, an insurance executive believes as much. She says, “For me, I prefer the powdered ones. I find them more convenient to use and the way they are packaged is not only trendy but also increases their shelf life.”
Agboola is not alone on this. Abimbola Adeleye, a stock broker corroborates her position and adds that, “to me, they have milder taste compared to cubes which I consider too strong.” The views of these two represent the majority  of opinions along this line, lending credence to the logic that time may soon be up for cube seasonings.
There are people who tend to disagree with the views of Agboola and Adeleye. One of such is Roseline Ndukwe, a human resource consultant. She says: ‘I don’t think that is likely to happen, not in a long time to come. Many of us were brought up cooking with cube seasonings and I bet majority of us still favour cube seasonings over  powdered ones. The few times I tried using the powdered seasonings, I ended up adding cubes to the food before I could get the desired taste.” She argues that those who are sticklers to taste may never favour powdered seasonings.
However, food experts say that taste sometimes could be a matter of psychology. According to them, people’s judgment about the taste of a new brand is always influenced by the taste of the older brand. To this extent, they posit, consumers of cube seasonings whose taste buds have acclimatized will definitely have issues with powdered seasonings.
A few traders who spoke to M2 also differ from Sunday on the issue of powdered seasoning replacing cube seasonings. Monica Ashade, a trader at Ojuwoye in Mushin, Chinyere Onyejiekwe at Rauf Aregbesola modern market, Iyana-Ipaja, and Kenneth Nnebue at Irepodun in Ikotun, among others, are opposed to Sunday’s argument.
Ashade wonders how this can happen when those who patronize powdered seasonings only do so to compliment cube seasonings. She says, “Cube seasonings have stronger taste and going by the feedback I get from most customers, I can tell you that majority of consumers patronize powdered seasonings only to compliment cubes.” She agrees that package-wise, the powdered seasonings in sachets appear more attractive and last longer on the shelf. However, she wonders why anybody could say that such packaging which requires the use of a sharp object or the teeth to cut open can be easier to use than cube wrappers.
Onyejiekwe,   corroborating Ashade’s position adds, “Some of my customers have told me that they cannot use powdered seasoning alone.”
Shola Ogbodo, a restaurateur, also disagrees with the view that powdered seasonings will displace cubes. According to her, “I go for what works for me and my customers. Since I do large scale cooking, when I’m not using white seasoning then it is cubes because they help me achieve that unique taste. They are also easy to unwrap.”
Another thing that everyone agrees favours powdered seasonings is the fact that they mostly belong to the lower cost category. This situation, experts posit, favours from the condition in which the present economy has put consumers’ purse. They argue that the state of the economy alone is capable of creating a market for the powdered food seasonings.
Speaking at the launch of Maggi Mix’py last year, Uduak Bassey, who manages the Maggi brand at Nestle noted that “choice ultimately lies at the heart of consumers” but what ultimately influences that choice, are taste and size of pocket. She further explains that “for Nestle, Maggi Mix’py is not a replacement but an extension of the existing brand to extend consumers’ choice.”
Industry watchers are wondering if Nestle’s position, as explained by Bassey, is applicable to the other brands springing up in the market. Are they here because they see that time has come for a change of baton in that market segment? Does the belief that Promasidor’s success with Onga promoted Nestle’s response with Maggi Mix’py signal where the market is headed in the years to come? Will these end up as flashes in the pan like Royco Chop Mix and Maggi Machop – Nestle’s other extension of maggi that failed? Only time can tell.