By Agatha Emeadi
There appears to be a silent war going on between the consumers, regular and bulk buyers, of two popular brands of bread in Lagos at the moment. They are the Bokku Mart and Jendol Superstores, bakers of Bokku and Jendol breads.
Knowingly and unknowingly to both bakeries and their organizations, their consumers and buyers are almost at one another’s throat in comparison of the best brand.
Bokku bread consumers will readily claim that Bokku is the best bread brand in Lagos State while those of Jendol would counter this, claiming that theirs is the ultimate.
Though Jendol is a bit older, but the marketing aggression in which the newly introduced Bokku bread has demonstrated in the market segment is quite notable.
Currently, the two brands are in a stiff competition in Lagos State, struggling to chase away another to become the market leader.
Now, as the competition thickens between them through their consumers, this reporter queued up at one of the Bokku Mart’s locations in Lagos to make purchase and understudy the environment.
On the long queue, activities were at its peak as the bread sellers try to attend to both regular and bulk buyers.
Walking round the mall for other items, a male staff gently walked beside this reporter and politely asked: “Madam, is there any particular item you want, so I can be of help.” And this reporter answered in the affirmative: “Yes, I need to speak with the manager,” (who later joined us), “Manager, I saw some people paying for nylon to carry their bread, why?” And he responded: “That is the company’s policy in all our 35 outlets in Lagos.”
When asked why buyers have to buy nylon by themselves, he said: “Madam, maybe, I will direct you to our Acme Road, Ogba headquarters of the company to make further enquiry. I am not in a position to answer your questions. You can visit the headquarters of the company for further responses.”
At another Bokku location, on the queue with a loaf of hot freshly baked bread, the cashier warned: “Madam, be careful with your bread. The way you are holding it, it might squeeze and shrink.”
After making payment and demanded for a nylon to package it, the cashier said: “No madam, we sell the nylon for 50 kobo.”
Upon protesting buying the nylon, the cashier drew the attention of the manager at that location who came to explain further: “Madam, we sell nylon because we are basically a one-stop shop for specifically household things.
“In our shop, we expect you come with your nylon just the way you go to the market with nylon to shop,” explaining that an item could be sold for N300 in Bokku mart while others sell the same for N400.
“The other seller can afford to give out free nylon because they have recovered their money from another item. But we are open and a re-assurance that nothing is free anywhere,” he said.
As we walked round the mall, the reporter asked him; what is this bread war between Bokku and Jendol?
And he replied: “I needed to explain the nylon issue, but not allowed to grant interviews. You can get to our head office at Acme Road, Ogba for further clarifications.”
A visit to Acme Road, Ogba headquarters of the Bokku Mart, all efforts to speak with the authorities proved abortive, but later, a lady showed up and simply said: “We do not speak to the press at all. We are used to bad press and do not make statements.”
At another Bokku location, an attendant gave an insight on why people rush for Bokku bread at almost all the locations.
He said: “Because our consumers found us worthy. We pay attention to details and are in business, therefore, should not be afraid of other competitors since we are doing the right thing. People rush for our freshly baked bread with time. Now is about 1:00 p.m; you will see mostly bulk buyers because most people have gone to work. At about 4:00p.m when they are coming from work, regular buyers would be more.”
When asked that with the crowd at almost all the locations, some people are alleging foul play, he retorted: “Foul play indeed and laughable at the same time.
“So, can we operate without NADFAC registration and approval? They visit us regularly. So, we are not cutting corners.”
But when reminded of the allegation that they add too much sugar in their bread, he replied: “Our menu is the same in every location. Do not forget that when Grocery Bazaar (GB) at Jakande axis started baking fresh loaves, their bread was seen as the best and people rushed there. The same with Jendol that became the market leader at its time. Now is the reign of Bokku bread.”
Clearly again, he stated, “the crowd you see at all locations is because we allow both regular and bulk buyers to go to any location and make their purchases. Jendol bulk buyers go to Isheri location. In Bokku, our menu is the same in every location. What you get at Surulere is what you get at Agege.”
When asked why some promoters of Jendol bread are accusing them of baking bread that does not last, he said: “Except someone is adding bromate, here in Bokku, we do not bake bread to last. Apart from NAFDAC, we have bakers who also come for facility tours; if what we are doing is not good, they would have raised the alarm. Our bread remains the best; it is 900g and that it is.”
Similarly, a visit was made to some Jendol Super stores, and a chat with one of the supervisors confirmed a veiled silent competition.
When asked what she thought about Bokku bread that is almost becoming the market leader with many locations and rush for their bread, she said: “I have not tasted Bokku bread and cannot talk about it.” Well, with Bokku and Jendol, Agege bread still thrives. But I can tell you that here in Jendol, (pointing towards the exit of the mall), look at that man going, he ordered and got three hundred loaves. You can see him moving them to his car. In the evening when workers close from work, regular buyers are all over the place.
“Over the time, I can also tell you that in Jendol, we are proud of what we do because if the customers who do not reside in Lagos could order for our bread from neighbouring states, it is a feat for us.”
In a chat, a man that ordered for 300 loaves said: “I came to help my wife pick her stock. She went to the children’s school vacation ceremony. I do not really know about her bread business. But I can only remember that there was a time bulk buyers were on WhatsApp group chat. These ones are 1,200g and sold at N1,800”.
When asked whether they also sell Bokku bread, he said: “Yes, we do, but not as much as this because Jendol lasts longer than Bokku.”