Eveready closure a blow
What you need to know:
- This is a sad testimony to the dynamics of a liberalised market.
- No longer can products survive on sentimental value alone.
One of the household names in consumer products, Eveready East Africa, closed down its dry cell plant in Nakuru this week following massive decline in sales resulting from cheap imports and competition from substitutes.
For a generation of Kenyans, Eveready dry cell was an unassailable product that powered their portable radios and flashlights. Long before the digital revolution, Eveready products had become household items all over Kenya.
Thus, it is humbling to see the producer of such a powerful product close down its production and throw many workers out of their jobs.
That is a sad testimony to the dynamics of a liberalised market. Cheap imports and advances in technology have changed the business environment and rendered some products uncompetitive.
No longer can products survive on sentimental value alone.
Protective and restrictive policies of the past have been sidestepped and it is no longer plausible to plead with the government to insulate local companies from the aggressive multinationals.
The times have, indeed, changed. The business climate has become more violently competitive, and the only recourse is to constantly re-engineer your products to compete.
