Fast
Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGS) are products that are sold quickly and at
relatively low cost. Examples of such products are milk, Milo, soft drinks, and
toiletries. Profits on these products are very small but they do sell in large
quantities. These products are replaced or used up very quickly and over a
short period of time. They usually have short shelf life because of its high
demand. These types of goods are mostly sold in retail outlets, supermarkets,
and small selling centers such as in kiosk and on table tops.
Fast
Moving Consumer Goods over the years have been an integral part of Ghana’s
economy. It forms part of the indicators in the economy of Ghana because the
public cannot do without them. People
even link inflation rate with Fast Moving Consumer Goods to judge the
performance of the government .Therefore, it was not a surprise that in 1982,
during the PNDC era, the government placed a price control on most of the Fast
Moving Consumer Goods in the country.
Fast
Moving Consumer Goods have been one of the major sources of employment in the
country. In fact, one of the most important challenges of every government in
Ghana is unemployment, as it is the duty of the government to provide jobs for
its citizens. Jobs are created for especially the youth. For instance,
companies such as Nestle Ghana Limited and Unilever Ghana Limited do organize
sales promotion on their products. Such promotion requires a lot of workers so
they recruit personnel to help run the promotion.
PZ
Cussons Ghana Limited is a leading organization within the fast moving consumer
goods with recognized quality international and regional brands such as
imperial leather, Robb, duck bar soap, Venus and nunu milk. They offer job
opportunities to people occasionally especially during their sales promotion.
As
a result of rapid technological growth, the production of FMCGS has increased
tremendously and has encouraged more buying and selling. Companies recruit
people as sales representatives, retailers, wholesalers and so on which go a
long way to reduce the rate of unemployment in the country. The government also
derives revenue from the imported goods since most of the fast moving consumer
goods are imported into the country. Tariffs are put on these products and the government
derives its benefit. These taxes can be used to create developmental projects
in the country such as schools, hospitals, roads and clinics etc.
The past few years has seen a growing trend
for the FMCG industry to expand increasingly into the convenience shopping
market. This shift has been driven by two key factors: shoppers’ demand for
greater convenience in shopping hours and shopping destinations; and the
reducing price of value-added items such as ready-to-eat or part-prepared meals.
Most monthly shops have been replaced by weekly and even more frequent shopping
excursions. The new image that consumers demand is one of cleanliness and accessibility
(easy to access products). The ambience of the shopping experience has become
very important.
These
trends have placed increasing pressure on more traditional FMCG stores, such as
Foods across all the markets, even the previously disadvantaged consumers are
demanding to access relatively affordable ingredients pre-prepared and
part-prepared meals. This has further resulted in consumers placing
exceptionally high importance on the brand of the stores where they buy. They
look to brands they can trust and will guarantee them high quality products;
and good accessibility both in terms of location and hours. That in turn, means
these retailers have to reinvent themselves, which is resulting in a refocus on
costs, improved service offerings to their clients and on access to information
to assist managers to make buying decisions. It is these last two requirements
that have resulted from this trend in the FMCG sector that plays directly into
the economy.
Fast Moving Consumer Goods Sector is a major
contributor to Ghana’s economic development. The sector is characterized by
profitability which is very high as compared to other sectors. On the basis of
these facts, fast moving consumer goods form an integral part of Ghana’s
economy. A comprehensive research was
conducted by our team on fast moving consumer goods and how these goods have
fared over the past three months.
A consumer who decided to speak to us on condition
of anonymity said, “Well, it has done quite well and I must say that prices
have been stable for the past three months and indeed we get value for money
for what we buy in terms of quality of the product”. He however admitted that
there has been a massive influx of substitute’s consumer goods which satisfy
the same needs. He cited an example that soap, which has different types have
been moving very fast. He therefore concluded that tax from the government
should be reduced in order to help make people purchase more of these goods on
daily basis for consumption.
Another
person we spoke to indicated that fast moving consumer goods are indeed goods
they cannot live without even for a single day. She further stated that for the
past three months, there has been increase in consumption of these products.
“sometimes you go to the market and you become confused of what to buy as there
are so many similar goods available, meaning the manufactures have realized
that patronage of these products are high”. In her opinion, high patronage of
the product is going to create employment in the country since companies at the
present time do promotional selling in which they use people for their sales
promotion by giving them jobs.
From
the above sample views of the consumers, it is clear that they see the performance
of the FMCGs in good shape and standing. One consumer who gave his name as
Kwame lamented that for the past three months, there has been some expired
goods on the market. This according to him is as a result of the Food and Drugs
Board failure to put proper measures in place to check the fast moving consumer
goods that are imported into the country.
However,
there are some consumers whose opinions went contrary to what the others said.
They were of the view that for the past three months, there has been a drastic increment
on the prices of fast moving consumer goods especially in shell shops,
supermarkets and quick marts. One person stated the fact that five kilograms of
sultana rice used to be sold for fourteen Ghana cedis, fifty pesewas but within
a period of three months the price have been increased to eighteen Ghana cedis
Fifty pesewas at a particular shop with name withheld.
Another person also complained about Don Simon
fruit juice which has also been increased massively. The question here is, is it
the fault of government or shop owners? We cast the bigger part of blame to
shop owners, especially shell shops and quick marts because they price their
products according to location and personality. According to shop assistants,
and personal experience in dealing with management of a particular quick mart,
the selling prices of goods sold in these shops are twice the cost prices of
these products.
In an interview with some consumers at Accra
Central Market, they expressed their dissatisfaction on how prices on Fast
Moving Consumer Goods have been increased for the past three months. One of
them complained bitterly about how often she used to buy these goods, but now
she cannot do so due to the rapid price increase within the last three months.
A single mother was so disturbed because she would have to buy confectionaries
for the home and snacks for school. She said “at the end of every week, if I
should tell you the amount of money I spend on these goods, you will be amazed.
It takes more than half of my salary. This is disheartening. We are therefore
appealing to the authorities to help check the prices of these goods to boost
Ghana’s economy and also make Ghana a better place for all”.
From
the above interaction with consumers who matters most in this particular topic,
there is no doubt that Fast Moving Consumer Goods form an integral part of
Ghana’s economy.
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