SPECIAL REPORT: Quick Service Restaurants surge as massive decline hits canteen business in Nigeria’s cities

With an incredible surge in urbanization across the country and conscious efforts by consumers to satisfy their appetites with quality and tasteful meal, Quick Service Restaurant patronage has continued to make a top-in-demand by many urban dwellers whose hunger for sophisticated foods remains insatiable.

Made, sold and served for immediate consumption or takeaway in Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) scattered across the cities, fast foods are special types of continental meals and pastries that meet consumers’ satisfactions. The foods are massively produced and designed for commercial resale with a strong priority placed on speed of service and delivery.

Before now, local or traditional food canteens were once regarded as the real deal in the ready-to-eat food business. However, the emergence of Mr Bigg’s which paved the way for other exotic fast food centres have led to a paradigm shift in the food chain industry.

Local canteens are commonly located around the neighborhood and within a reasonable distance to any consumer willing to strike a patronage. For many years, most Nigerians derived their satisfactions in the mouthwatering dishes offered by these canteen operators who regularly gave their best in rendering satisfactory services at affordable rates.

To measure up with contemporary world, some traditional canteen environments are upgraded to fit into the modern taste of high profile Nigerians while others simply operate at low ebb and primarily target customers who care less about the ambiance but the quality and quantity of foods that give them value for their money. Either by taste of food, mode of service or attraction of ambiance, canteens were predominantly the toast and taste of the larger members of the society in the days of yore.

But with the advent of walk- in and eat-centres like Tasty Fried Chicken, Tantalizer, Dominos, Captain Cook, Chicken Republic, Sweet Sensation and several others that offer a wide range of continental cuisines to customers, the level of patronage enjoyed by traditional canteens has drastically reduced as some of the operators who could not survive the heat were forced to bow out of the kitchen, while those with financial capacity are upgrading their outlets to fast food centres, offering a robust competition to the existing outlets.

Until the arrival of Mr. Bigg’s in the late 70s, the fast food sector was considered as a fallow ground in Nigeria, eagerly waiting to be cultivated. By the 2000’s, Mr. Bigg’s remained the biggest fast food restaurants that resonated with pride, class and status across the country. But  a few years after, the bigness of Mr Bigg’s fizzled into oblivion as other competitors swarmed the market; creating a major disruption in the fast food industry.

Despite visible attempts to rebrand, bounce back and take its prominent role, the presence of Mr Bigg’s in the fast food industry has literally remained in the background as new outlets continue to make their entries into the market. Many of these outlets have leveraged the evolving technologies to push their brands and satisfy their consumers such as attending to online request, payment, delivery and resolution of complains.

The deliberate moves by these new entrants to revolutionize the industry, place premiums on consumers’ satisfaction and offer the best and affordable service to customers were believed to have been the swelling ground for the resounding success of fast food business in the Nigerian food industry, consequently digging the grave to bury the traditional food canteens in the major market.

A recent report shows that Quick Service Restaurants hold the highest market share in the Nigerian food industry. The development was said to have been triggered by the increasing frequency of dinning out in pivotal cities like Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and others.

The report further reveals that in 2022, about 34% of total food expenditure was spent in fast food centres by Lagos residents, owing to the affordability of the menu option and convenience of consumption.

Similarly, the Association of Fast-Food Confectioners of Nigeria (AFFCON), recently confirmed that Nigeria’s organized fast-food industry is estimated at N250 billion ($602.5 million), and has been growing at a 10% annual rate in recent years. The market is said to have been characterized by both local and international franchising models, while it continues to expand and evolve.