PASCAL OPARADA
Sixty years is a long shot in anyone’s life to make a meaningful impact. You have age, wisdom, hindsight and experience all packed into one.
Like a good Nollywood movie plot, all these years seem to have been rolled into one for one of Nigeria’s premium brands, Mouka, makers of mattresses, pillows and everything that makes life comfortable.
The family business, which began in Kano in 1959, is today a leading brand in the mattresses and beddings industry.
The story for Mouka started 60 years ago when the Faiz Moukarim family started the Moukarim Metalwood factory to manufacture furniture and iron beds.
The company has stood the test of time. Beginning a year before Nigeria got her independence, it believed in Nigeria enough to stay and make a success of the brand.
According to a recent poll, 84 per cent of Nigerians say they use at least one Mouka product. This was further put to the test when the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Raymond Murphy, asked in a room full of journalists who among them uses Mouka. Over 90 per cent of those present responded that they use the product.
The brand is the only one in the industry to have all three internationally recognised certifications: the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO); the Integrated Management System (IMS) certification; and Quality Management Systems (QMS) and 14001 it got in 2015.
Just like the Mouka brand, distributors with the company are mostly second-generation distributors. They, like Mouka, have also weathered the socio-economic tides in Nigeria and remained loyal to the brand, having been with them for than 40 years.
According to Murphy, this is a big milestone.
The brand recently notched up endorsements from the Nigeria Association of Orthopedic Manual Therapists (NOAMT).
NOAMT recognition is the icing on the cake.
According to a statement from the company, the foremost indigenous mattress and foam products manufacturer has also been recognised twice by the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), in the group’s Companies to Inspire Africa report.
The statement said Mouka was listed in the LSEG’s companies to Inspire Africa 2019 report after it made the 2017 inaugural edition.
Murphy said Mouka had to work earnestly to consolidate its performance in the sector to make the list of Companies to Inspire Africa for the second consecutive edition.
To be included in the list, companies need to be privately held, show an excellent rate of growth and potential to power development in Africa.
Mouka was recognised alongside 360 companies from 32 countries across the continent represented in this year’s report, boasting an incredibly impressive average compound annual growth rate of 46 per cent, up from 16 per cent in 2017.
At a recent parley with journalists, Murphy said the brand is also a leading brand not just in Nigeria but in Africa and the Middle East.
“Recent research, according to some marketing professionals, whom I met on my last trip to Dubai also attest to the fact that Mouka is not only the leader in Nigeria but also in Africa and the Middle East,” he said.
Why has Mouka remained resilient and strong despite the stiff competition in the industry?
Consistency, commitment to quality and continuous rapport with consumers have made it remain a brand of choice.
“Mouka is a brand which listens to consumers,” Ekezie Chigbuo a seller of Mouka products said.
Chigbuo said not a day passes without consumers asking for one form of Mouka products or another.
Recently, Mouka developed an insect repellant to match its promise of quality and comfort.
Mouka Mozzi repellant was developed as an answer to consumers’ demand for total comfort.
In addition to mosquitoes, Mouka Mozzi also protects from bedbugs, moulds, bacterial spores, spiders, cockroaches and dust mites. With each application, a consumer can enjoy a 24-hour protection for up to three months which is not possible with normal insecticides.
The 60 years of Mouka’s existence can be all summed in one word: Exhilarating.
