Akoko Tasty: Driving the Consumption of Chicken by BoP Consumers in Ghana

It is 3 pm at the busy Atinga Junction in Kumasi, Ghana. The sun is scorching hot, and traffic is heavy at the junction as people strive go about their different endeavors. Amidst all the hustle of the city, a fragrant smell wafts in the air. Two young men are busy on a grill roasting chicken, which makes the passengers turn their heads as they walk.

The chicken grilling is part of an initiative by of the Rockland-2SCALE partnership to enhance the consumption of chicken precuts by low-income consumers in Ghana to enhance nutrition. The grilled chicken precuts are commonly known by the name Akoko Tasty which is derived from the Twi word for chicken and tasty to denote the quality of the meat. Typically, chicken is deemed as quite expensive, but the grilling model aims at giving low-income consumers the ability to consume quality and nutritious poultry products at an affordable rate. For as low as 5 cedis, people can enjoy quality grilled chicken.

“One of the things that was behind the launch of Akoko Tasty was the fact that a lot of people patronise imported chicken while we have quality chicken here in Ghana. So, we came up with the idea of grilled local chicken that can be bought by the masses according to the price they have. By also having multiple youth manning the grilling stations in the villages, access to nutritious poultry is also enhanced for low-income consumers,” explains Edith Akosah Wheatland, Founder of Rockland Farms

Impact and Approach

Christian Dansu, 30 is one of the grillers at the Atinga Akoko Tasty outlet. For the past 3 months, in addition to Christian, 6 other youth have been employed at the grilling station as salespersons, grillers and delivery persons. Prior to joining Rockland as a griller, Christian used to work as a herbal medicine seller. However, following a market activation near his former workstation, he found out more about Akoko Tasty and decided to join the program.

“Since we started grilling here at Atinga in August, demand has been growing very fast. We usually open at around mid-day but stock often runs out quickly due to the demand from the surrounding areas. I am so far enjoying my job so far and I am hoping to eventually own my own grilling equipment and hiring more young people,” says Christian.

“We were very intentional in how we promoted the Akoko Tasty to ensure it is both attractive to the youth as employment opportunities as well as to the masses. Strategic positioning has also been key to the quick popularity of Akoko Tasty. Funerals, weddings have proven to be places where a lot of people can also taste the grilled chicken and this creates the needed demand,” says Frank Owusu-Brobbey, the Lead for the Rockland Business Support Services of the partnership

Market activations have also been essential to the penetration of the Kumasi market. In the month of September we did a market activation in collaboration with Tamanaa which yielded great results. Over a period of days, 230 pieces of grilled chicken were sold as well as also greatly helping increase the sales of Tamanaa rice. This activation was quite strategic as chicken and rice are complementary foods.

Future Prospects

To enhance the empowerment of youth, Rockland are soon introducing a scheme that would see the youth provided with the grilling equipment(rotisserie) which they would pay off over time. This model would entail Rockland supplying the youth with the chicken at affordable rates. From the sales, youth will be able to pay off in installments the cost of the grill and fully own the grilling equipment. The enhanced consumption of chicken would also mean that demand for Rockland chicken is bound to skyrocket which would be a boon to the business. 

"We are soon planning to receive equipment that will allow us to process 5,000 birds a day due to the enhanced demand for locally produced chicken. This spike in demand can be attributed to the popularity of the Akoko Tasty chicken in the outlets we have opened so far and also through the social gatherings," explains Edith.

The grilling station at Atinga is just one of the six grilling stations that Rockland aims to put up to further enhance availability of nutritious chicken meat to low-income consumers in Ghana. In addition, the Business Champion also intends to hire at least 2 female grillers by the end of the year to enhance gender diversity.