Interview: Cowbell Remains Nigeria’s No. 1 Milk, Says Ebi Akpeti

Posted by African Examiner Business News, Latest Headlines Sunday, February 1st, 2015

Ebi Valerie Akpeti is the Manager, Corporate Communications of Promasidor Nigeria Limited, producer of Cowbell, Loya Milk, Onga, Top Tea, among other products. In this interview with Global Village Extra, Akpeti explains how the company has been able to sustain its CSR over the years.

She spoke with DAMILARE OKUNOLA.

Cowbell Mathematics Competition seems like one of the company’s oldest sponsored events. What prompted it in the first place?

We call is National Secondary Schools Mathematics Competition, NASSMAC and I must tell you that it has been ongoing steadily for about 15 years now. One of the key areas Promasidor focuses on is education and having such a challenge for students is a great way of showing our huge support for the growth of education in the country.

How have you been able to sustain it over the years?

Very simple. Our watchword in Promasidor is sustainability. We do not start something we cannot sustain for long. Therefore, we have a planned structure which allows us to sustain our sponsorship for a really lengthy period. The competition did not actually start as a National Event, it was just a state-wide programme. But when we saw the level of growth and what changes it could effect, we made it broad and took it the national level. Today, we have gone 15 years on the trot and we are making progress.

Is there any dynamic angle to it this year, or how will this year’s event be different from previous competitions?

Well, in a few days, we shall have a press conference to brief the media what special packages we are putting together for this year’s competition. Then, we shall be able to succinctly state how this year’s edition shall be different from past editions.

How has the company been able to Sponsor many events over the years?

Like I told you earlier, we do not start what we cannot sustain. We had a plan, more like a structure before delving into the sponsorship and we have been able to manage everything that has to do with it over the years. We planned to sustain it, that is why we have continued to be in business.

We learnt there are also tournaments outside the country which Promasidor Sponsors.

Yes, there may possibly be because we have Promasidor in several other countries. However, I am only permitted to talk about Promasidor Nigeria.

Promasidor seems to have special bias for Sports, Education and Health. What could be responsible for this?

We chose four key categories where we felt we could effect development and growth; Education, Sports, Healthcare and Empowerment. These areas are key to every economy, so we decided to work on them and embark on projects relating to these categories.

Any plan to delve into another sector of the economy?

At the moment, those are the areas we feel we need to work on presently. But, if we identify other areas as well, we shall surely make them count.

You also have Brand Ambassadors…

Well, there are Brand Promoters and then Ambassadors. These are people whom we believe are good and can project the good image of our company and its products. We identified them and brought them in to promote our products as well.

Cowbell may have lost its initial spark with the invention of Peak Sachet and the likes of it. What are you doing to restore Cowbell to the Family Milk it used to be?

I totally disagree with you on that. Cowbell is Nigeria’s number one milk, this has been its status over the years and that is just the very truth. Everybody in Nigeria and beyond knows our products and it has never for once depreciated in any way. As a matter of fact, we have kept coming out with new and dynamic products from the stable of Promasidor. Cowbell isn’t our only product as you already know, we have a whole lot of others. It is just one of our Dairy products. There are also beverages and seasoning.

Apart from the CSR that we are conversant with, are there other ways Promasidor is giving back to the society?

There are several other things that Promasidor does to give back to the society. For instance, we are in partnership with a group of beach cleaning volunteers. There are some others here and there and we shall definitely do more the moment we identify those other areas where we can sustain our dealings.