By Nkiruka Nnorom

Grand Oak Limited, marketer of alcoholic and non- alcoholic brands in Nigeria, said it has concluded plans to begin the export its products to other West African markets.

From left: Mr. Benson Oluwafiropo, Activation Executive, Grand Oak Limited; Mrs. Adenike Lawrence, Trade Marketing Manager, Grand Oak Limited; Aare Fatai Odesile, Managing Director, Grand Oak Limited and Mr. Ezekiel Adamu, CEO, Balmoral Group, at the company’s stand during the International Drinks Festival in Lagos.

The company’s Managing Director, Aare Fatai Odesile, disclosed this at the maiden edition of the ‘International Drinks Festival’ in Lagos.

Speaking on the company’s expansion plans, Odesile said that the company would aggressively push its brands to the Northern parts of the country, following the end of Boko Haram insurgency; adding that it had also concluded plans to expand to Ghana and after-wards expand to other West African countries.

“There are plans to service the growing economy of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). We have been to Ghana and we are just perfecting our strategies in Ghana. Even within Nigeria, we are not yet servicing the whole of the country. We are happy that the Boko Haram insurgency is over. We used to service 17 states instead of 36 and now the other 19 states are free and I can tell you, the future is bright for this business”, he said.

Odesile explained that consumption of spirit, rum and other alcoholic drinks has a lot of health benefits contrary to general believe, adding that its abuse is what many analysts have concentrated on and simply condemned its consumption.

Also speaking, Adenike Lawrence,Trade Marketing Manager, Grand Oak, said the company would continue to innovate in order to meet consumers’ needs. “We are known to have world class brands. So consumers should expect continuous development in how we meet their needs. We have recently launched 9ja Café Rhum, meeting some set of consumers needs. So, from time to time, we will introduce other great innovations to meet more consumer needs as well”.

Consumers at the festivals, who trooped to Grand Oak’s stand and sampled their products, applauded the company for its innovative products. The brands which include 9ja Café Rhum, Regal Dry Gin, St Lauren, Lord’s Gin, Seaman’s Aromatic Schnapps, Swagga among others were on display.

Ezekiel Adamu, CEO Balmoral Group and organisers of the festival disclosed that the event would help the country develop reliable statistics about the drink market and it will also help brands understand what consumers thought about their products and services.