Snack food manufacturers, McVities Ghana, has made fresh appeals for government to bring to an end to the smuggling of sub-standard products into the country.

The company blames recent low sales on the competition from the illegally imported products that are relatively cheaper. The call also follows complaints from wholesalers and retailers of McVities products who say patronage of their goods is low over undue competition from other countries.

The Regional Manager of McVities West Africa, Hassan Saad however explained to Citi Business News he was hopeful of a rebound in business should the development cease. “If you don’t put an end to smuggling, it will grow bigger and bigger and impact the government’s income and environment for foreign investors, it will push investors away. We believe that the government will make a lot of efforts in that direction, obviously that the government is motivating and promoting Ghana to be a place that is friendly for foreign investments.”

He also gave the assurance that McVities will continue to do business in Ghana. “We truly believe in Ghana; we have been doing business here for the past thirty years and will continue to do business with Ghana.” Hassan Saad made these comments at the sidelines of the Second Annual Wholesalers Conference.

The conference highlighted the plans for McVities in Ghana for this year which included the introduction of new biscuits as well as awarded their top preforming customers. McVities operates in 120 countries across the world. It also has 34 factories in 13 countries with 26,000 employees globally. McVities has an annual revenue of USD 5.2 billion.

source:citifmonline