There is no gainsaying the fact that OldEnglish Bread has cemented its place of prominence in bread business within the short time it has come into the bakery space.
“I have chosen to be in this business to upset the apple cart of dining culture by providing high-quality, soul-satisfying alternatives to bread consumption in Nigeria. At OldEnglish Bakery, we hope to conquer appetites and transform our cityscape through intentional investment in the right resources to achieve our dream.” With these words, Olanrewaju Alfred opened OldEnglish Bakery in Omole Estate in Lagos State about four years ago.
It was an event that would not only bring about commercial as well as landscape transformation to the serene estate known for its exquisiteness; it also marked a shift in bread business in Lagos as the bakery has witnessed unprecedented expansion across Lagos State in what a customer described as signifying “instant embrace of quality and hygiene.”
Founder and CEO of OldEnglish Superstores and Bakery, Olanrewaju Alfred, (renowned for his sterling media career, especially in the genre of celebrity journalism before venturing into the fast moving consumer goods business sector), ushered in a bread revolution when OldEnglish started using natural yeast and flour to make its mouth-watering loaves.
At the modern-looking but warm baking facility in Omole, OldEnglish bakes five types of bread, making everything fresh daily. OldEnglish bakes bread on-site every day – a practice that ensures that the loaves the customerspurchase are fresh and most times, still hot from the oven.
Within weeks of its operations and sales, words had travelled fast and wide that new bakers were in town; and that their unique selling proposition was the taste and uncommon texture. This attracted patronage from across Lagos, even from places as far as the neighbouring state of Ogun, where customers came from Akute-Ajuwon, Arepo, Ibafo and Mowe, Sango Otta, for the bread.
OldEnglish Bread has since made a quick pact with its customers whose number keeps burgeoning by the day. The brand has been indelibly registered in the hearts of many as they throng all OldEnglish outlets and sometimes form queues to buy the bread. Customers unanimously agree that OldEnglish Bread has a really good taste. How this unanimity came to be is pleasant surprise judging by the fact that individuals judge for themselves what is good or other based on different criteria.
“The beauty of having OldEnglish here is the opportunity it affords us to buy bread as we want it. I love my bread oven fresh and hot; and the likely that I would get just that is very high when I come to OldEnglish,” a customer named Henry expressed his delight.
In a jovial manner, Henry called on the management of OldEnglish Bakery to appoint him as its ambassador because he has sold the product to many customers in Omole through word-of-mouth communication.
For another customer, OldEnglish Bread has a certain quality keeps its taste intact in days. “I buy OldEnglish for my dad who is not a heavy eater. He is addicted to the bread now because the 850 gram I buy last him five to six days in spite of the fact that it is very low on preservatives. This is so unlike what we have around.”
The testimonial of a Type 2 diabetic shows the level of diligence and thoroughness OldEnglish puts into making its whole grain bread to ensure that the customer gets just exactly the health benefit they look out for.
“As a diabetic with heart disease and high blood pressure, OldEnglish wheat bread is it for me, as I now enjoy toast for breakfast or a sandwich for lunch or a snack. Besides being tasty and filling, the bread is low glycaemic. The bread does not raise my blood sugar. When I take the bread for breakfast,my sugar levels are often very low at lunch time. I sometimes even need to have a snack so it will not drop too low. I hope they maintain their quality,” 67-year Mrs. Falase said.
One instructive finding by CityPeople about OldEnglish Bread is that it is among the first five brands that a majority of customers would recommend to friends and family, according to a study by a marketing and research firm based in Lagos. The study examined 50 dining brands over the past one year, tracking the percentage of customers who would tell a friend or family member to avoid the brand subtracted from the percentage of customers who say they would recommend the brand.
For the OldEnglish management, the feedbacks it receives on a regular basis have been an encouraging factor.
The reviews have been largely positive; yet they represent a call to not rest on their oars but to improve on their service delivery. From calls and short messages to the dedicated lines provided for customer services, the applause has been rapturous. Ratings on OldEnglish ‘Google MyBusiness’ has been excellent (4.7 stars on the average), just as the comments speak loudly and clearly of customers’ preference for OldEnglish.
Expansion is a natural phenomenon for a business which experiences high demand of its product(s) on a daily basis. OldEnglish has since grown leaps and bounds from one-spot superstore and bakery in Omole Estate to an entity with physically operational presence in Ikeja GRA, Okota-Isoloand Abule-Egba. Efforts to plant other branches in three other strategic locations (including Lagos Island and Surulere) in 2020 have reached an advanced stage, all in a bid to make OldEnglish easily accessible and available to desirous customers
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