Top 6 Pioneer product brands in Nigeria

There are thousands of products making waves in Nigeria, but there were only a few companies producing those products about 50 years ago in Nigeria after her independence. In this write-up, we shall take a look at the companies/brands which were the first to start producing popular products in their category in Nigeria.  
1. Indomie Noodles

Indomie is a brand of noodle by indofood. This company was first established in Indonesia. It is distributed across the continents of the world and has a market share of 72%. It came into Nigeria via import in 1988 and by 1995 it opened its first manufacturing company in Nigeria under Dufil Prima foods(the first instant noodles manufacturing plant of its kind and the largest in Africa). Indomie is the most popular brand of noodle in Nigeria. It is funny to note that other Brands of instant Noodles are also called Indomie in Nigeria by children even though they have their various names. It is worthy to note that Indomie noodles sold for almost a decade before its competitors began to emerge. Its first competitor is Chikki Noodles. Other popular brands in Nigeria right now are: Honeywell noodle, Dangote noodles, Tummy Tummy noodles, Mimee Noodles, Golden Penny Noodles, e.t.c.  

2. Gala Sausage Roll

The Gala sausage roll is produced by UAC foods, it was born in 1962 after Nigeria gained her independence. Over the years it grew to become the most well known brand of sausage roll till today. Just like Indomie being a generic name for noodles in nigeria, Gala is the generic name for all sausage rolls in Nigeria. Gala is 55 years old in Nigeria and is produced in the largest sausage roll factory in nigeria. Other competitions of Gala include, beefy, meaty, fill-up, e.t.c.

  


3. Close-up toothpaste

A lot of nigerians today still use chewing stick for cleaning their teeth but majority of nigerians make use of gel toothpastes. The early pacesetter here is Unilever's close-up toothpaste. it has been in existance in the country for decades and most adults today can testify to using the toothpaste when they were still infants. Other brands of toothpaste eventually followed: Macleans was the next to follow. Dabur introduced the first herbal gel toothpaste in Nigeria. Other brands include - colgate, MyMy, Oral-B, Olive, e.t.c.  


4.Mouka Foam

At the time when most foam companies folded due to irregular power supply in Nigeria. Mouka Foam made itself a household name. It started operation in 1972 in Lagos Nigeria. It became well known as other brands subsequently came into the market. Other popular brands include- Vita foam, Sara Foam, e.t.c  


5. Nigercem

Before the Emergence of popular cement factories such as Dangote cement, Ibeto cement, e.t.c. Nigercem was the first cement factory which was established in 1957 at the Limestone rich town of Nkalagu at the Eastern region of the country. The factory faced decline as protest by non workers led to its closure. Other cement plants that was established are: Ewokoro Cement plant, Bendel cement plant, Calcemco cement Plant, CCNC, e.t.c.  

6. Fan Milk
Fan milk was founded in 1960 by a Danish merchant with less than 30 employers and a plant in Ibadan. Before the emergence of other popular milk products known today, Fan Milk was the pacesetter. In the 1970s it introduced Yogurt drink and ice cream packaging technologies. WAMCO company which was incorporated in 1973 commenced local operation of Peak Milk in 1975. Peak milk became a household name later on before the emergence of other brands such as Nido, Three Crowns(WAMCO), Nunu, e.t.c.