Nestlé Professional has trained its distributors, kitchen operators and push cart attendants on hygiene, customer service and business management, urging participants to transform their operations into sustainable micro businesses.
The training and engagement session, held on Thursday in Lagos, took place at Darlington Hall, off Town Planning Way, Ilupeju, under the company’s MyBusiness initiative.
The programme brought together distributors, kitchen operators and attendants from Lagos and other states to review their operations, address recurring challenges and strengthen standards across the distribution chain.
The session focused on the importance of product quality, proper food handling, stock management and customer relations in building sustainable businesses and retaining patronage.
Speaking at the event, Ibrahim, MPN Channel Manager, Nestlé Nigeria, said the gathering was designed to promote interaction and shared learning among participants.
He said the session was not intended to be a one way training programme, but an opportunity for participants to exchange experiences, ideas and practical solutions.
According to him, operators should recognise that knowledge and useful ideas could come from anyone, regardless of the length of time the person had spent in the business.
Ibrahim also stressed the importance of trust in building customer loyalty, noting that consumers often returned to particular attendants because of the confidence they had developed in them.
He said attendants represented an important link between Nestlé brands and consumers, making their conduct, appearance and approach to customers critical to the success of the business.
Also speaking, Sule Abolore Alade, Head, Investment Promotion and Strategy, Lagos State Ministry of Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment, said the theme, From Pushing Carts to Building a Business, captured the opportunity available to operators to develop their businesses.
Alade urged participants to embrace proper planning, effective stock control, good customer service and disciplined business practices, stressing that small businesses could grow when properly managed.
Participants were advised to maintain accurate and regular stock records to enable them monitor their inventory and identify losses. Operators were encouraged to record every movement of products from their stores to their points of sale.
The training also highlighted several operational concerns, including abandoned carts, kitchen hygiene, poor storage practices, unauthorised purchases from sources outside approved distributors and the use of competitors’ products on Nestlé branded equipment.
Speakers further warned against keeping flasks on bare floors, using unclean water sources and maintaining disorganised storage areas, noting that another quality assurance audit would be conducted within two months.
Operators were also advised to promptly replace attendants who leave their jobs rather than allow carts to remain idle, while emphasis was placed on professional appearance as part of efforts to improve customer confidence, sales and overall business performance.
Nestlé Professional said the engagement formed part of its continuing efforts through its out of home business and MyBusiness platform to strengthen livelihoods across its value chain while improving operational standards for distributors, operators, attendants and consumers.