The Ghana Industrial Holding Company, (GIHOC) is pushing for a review of the advertising guidelines for alcoholic beverages by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).
According to the company, the restrictions on time of airplay of alcoholic beverage promotions on Television and Radio and the decision to ban celebrities from approving or endorsing alcoholic products is negatively impacting their operations and sales in particular.
Managing Director of GIHOC, Maxwell Kofi Jumah speaking to the media during a press soiree in the Ashanti Regional Capital, Kumasi, minced no words in voicing the displeasure of the company with regards to the guidelines as rolled out by the FDA.
He averred that “Do you think I will love it, NO; I believe that there has to be a way; we need to engage the Authority and try to fashion out a way where everybody will be okay, because it’s not only affecting us, it is also affecting all the other businesses on the line”.
BestNewsGH.com reports Mr. Kofi Jumah as also being livid about the fact that the policy by the FDA is also negatively affecting the media in the country, saying “It is also affecting the media; because it makes it impossible for us to promote our products and pay for the promotion and that supports you, so I think that it’s affecting a lot of people”.
He further opined that “Definitely it affects sales; we need to give out the good news about some of the products we have; the fact that GIHOC we don’t use flavors and color, that we use all natural products, the fact that the products that we use are by themselves very good for you; you know those are the things but we cannot do it, so we just leave it like that, you know it’s very difficult.’’
The FDA in rolling out the new guidelines in 2018 said it was primarily aimed at protecting minors across the country.
Section 3.2.6 of the FDA Guidelines for the Advertisement of Foods states that “Radio and Television advertising shall be forbidden between the hours of 8:00 am to 8:00 pm.”
Section 3.3.2. of the guidelines also states that “product endorsement by well-known personalities or professionals shall not directly or indirectly suggest that the consumption of any alcoholic beverage has contributed to the success of their particular endeavours”.
These guidelines came into effect in January 2018.
GIHOC has been at the forefront of producing and exporting quality Ghanaian alcoholic beverages including brands like Herb Afrik, Mandingo, Castle Bridge and Apet.
The GIHOC Managing Director also reiterated plans by the company to expand its frontiers explaining that “we started with West Africa, of course we needed a base; and we knew that in Liberia, Mandingo was the favorite drink; indeed the President of Liberia drinks Mandingo, so we went there, and then from Liberia to Nigeria and then to Cote D’Ivoire; now we are trying to move to Southern Africa, China, US and definitely Holland; we have started the process and hopefully by the middle of the year, GIHOC would have offices in those countries.’’
Source: BestNewsGH.com
