By Ayo Adesanya

Last week, the popular Nescafé coffee in tin returned to Nigerian markets after roughly two months of absence.The iconic brand is an obvious favorite of Nigerian coffee lovers and the clear market leader.

However early October, Nescafé in tin began to disappear from shop shelves. What this due to a s=urge of demand? Or inadequate supply? It is hard to tell. But for several weeks in October and November this year, what was on offer to Nigerian coffee drinkers from Nestle were the Nescafé 3-1 and the Nescafé Malty coffee variants. The Nescafé classic was nowhere to be found.

By the end of November however, the famous Nescafé in tin instant coffee returned strongly to market, filling up the previously empty shop shelves. Adept consumer goods marketers that that are, Nestle appears to be compensating Nescafé coffee loyalists with more coffee .Open the Nescafé tin today and it is full to the brim with coffee.

Reasons for the double month absence from the market are unavailable. But consumers should know that coffee is an organic crop and its harvest may be bountiful or fall below expectations due to several factors. Weather conditions do affect the production of the choice crop. This, invariably, would impact supply and production. Nescafé brand manager was not available to comment despite efforts to contact the company.