NAFDAC Commends Guinness Nigeria on Compliance, warns counterfeiters

L-R: Director, Marketing and Innovation, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr Gavin Pike; Director, Corporate Relations, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr Sesan Sobowale; Director-General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr Paul Orhii and Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr Seni Adetu during a courtesy visit and facility tour by the Director-General to Guinness Nigeria Ogba Brewery, Ikeja, on Monday, October 20th

Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr Paul Orhii, has commended Guinness Nigeria Plc for its ability to maintain high quality standards in the production of its beverages and high level of compliance with NAFDAC’s regulations and policies.

Dr. Orhii gave the commendation during a facility tour of Guinness Nigeria’s Ogba Brewery in Ikeja, Lagos and expressed his satisfaction with the production process of each product.

“From what I have seen, Guinness has so many brands that they are manufacturing, and am very happy that each brand is well controlled and well situated. I am impressed with what I have seen here today. We would work very closely with the quality control department to ensure that counterfeiters of any kind are arrested as we have done in the past.” Dr Orhii said.

In his welcome remarks, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr Seni Adetu expressed the company’s delight at the visit and noted that the visit would afford the company an opportunity to showcase its upgraded production lines. Adetu further expressed that he was happy that NAFDAC executives were afforded a chance to witness firsthand, the high premium that Guinness places on producing innovative products and maintaining a high quality standard.

“Innovation and quality are at the centre of our business. We research and gather insights from consumers that help us in the kind of products we make to satisfy their needs. It is such insights that have berthed drinks like Orijin which recently won the Best Beverage Innovation award. We take very seriously the issue of quality and ensure that our standards and procedures meet that of NAFDAC and global best practice as is expected of any company in the Diageo group.” Adetu stated.

Responding after the facility tour, Dr. Orhii said “We appreciate the management team of Guinness for hosting us on this visit and would like to state that this kind of partnership between regulators and the manufacturers are aimed at supporting companies in making sure that they maintain their standards. We are partners and we would seek ways to protect the brands of respected companies like Guinness Nigeria,” he stated.

Speaking further, he stressed that “As the regulator, we wouldn’t want to impose laws that will stifle businesses; we would rather be seen to help businesses to grow and provide Nigerians with excellent products. We believe that companies who open their doors to us to conduct such factory tours have nothing to hide and are doing the right thing. We hope to continue in this partnership, to work together so Nigerians would enjoy the best products” he concluded.​