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Tag: MAGGI

  • Pitcher Awards Announces 2026 Winners, Marking a Landmark Year for Pan‑African Creativity

    Pitcher Awards Announces 2026 Winners, Marking a Landmark Year for Pan‑African Creativity

    …Mozambique Makes a Big Debut with 1 Grand Prix and 4 Gold Wins

    The Pitcher Awards, the pan‑African benchmark for creative excellence, has announced the winners of its 2026 edition, celebrating groundbreaking work from across the continent and beyond. This year marks a historic milestone as the festival welcomed entries from Mozambique and the United States of America for the very first time, underscoring its expanding global reach and commitment to celebrating creativity without borders.

    Reflecting on this year’s achievements, Dr. Nnamdi Ndu, Chairman of the Pitcher Festival, said, “The 2026 Pitcher Awards showcase the extraordinary evolution of African creativity. This year’s winners demonstrate a boldness, cultural depth, and technical mastery that continue to elevate our region on the global stage. Welcoming new countries into the competition—and seeing them excel—reinforces our belief that creativity truly has no borders. We celebrate every winner and look forward to an unforgettable 10th edition in 2027.”

    Gold and Grand Prix winners were unveiled during the official streaming premiere, while all Shortlist, Bronze, and Silver recognitions are available on the festival website.

    2026 Grand Prix & Gold Winners

    Grand Prix

    • Culture – Corporate Image & Reputation Management — NoVita by The Bar Africa for NuVita Biscuits, Kenya
    • Heritage – Outdoor Ambient & Installations — MozaMbique Has 2M by Create Mozambique for 2M Beer, Mozambique

    Gold

    • Care – Public Health & Safety — La caravane d’excision – The FGM Caravan by L’Agence X for Mouvement femmes et paroles, Côte d’Ivoire
    • Channel – Use of Media — MozaMbique Has 2M by Create Mozambique for 2M Beer, Mozambique
    • Culture – Corporate Image & Reputation Management — Portrait of a Nation by Create Mozambique for Millennium Bim, Mozambique
    • Culture – Use of Cultural Insights — Maggi Tales of Ramadan by All Seasons Zenith for Maggi, Nestlé Nigeria
    • Culture – Use of Cultural Insights — NoVita by The Bar Africa for NuVita Biscuits, Kenya
    • Culture – Use of Cultural Insights — MozaMbique Has 2M by Create Mozambique for 2M Beer, Mozambique
    • Entertainment – Entertainment Film — First Beach by Dentsu Creative for Corona Africa, South Africa
    • Effectiveness – Business Impact — 2M SAMMA FRESH by Create Mozambique for 2M Beer, Mozambique
    • Heritage – Film — The Origin of Wonder by Dentsu Creative Kenya for Magical Kenya, Kenya Tourism Board
    • Heritage – Outdoor Activations — BUSiness UNUSUAL by The Quollective for Kiira Motors Corporation, Uganda
    • Heritage – Outdoor Ambient & Installations — Martell on the Move by PHD Nigeria for Pernod Ricard, Nigeria
    • Heritage – Print — The Sun‑Powered Print Ad by Dentsu Creative South Africa for Corona Africa

    Special Awards — 2026

    • Digital Agency of the Year: digitXplus, Nigeria
    • Media Agency of the Year: PHD Nigeria
    • Advertising Agency of the Year: Create Mozambique
    • Media Network of the Year: OMD
    • Advertising Agency Network of the Year: Dentsu Africa
    • Independent Network of the Year: The Quollective Africa
    • Regional Holding Company of the Year: Omnicom Media Group
    • Brand of the Year (National): 2M Beer Mozambique
    • Brand of the Year (Multinational): Martell
    • Marketing Company of the Year (National): Kiira Motors Corporation, Uganda
    • Marketing Company of the Year (Multinational): AB InBev

    Appreciation for the International Jury

    The Pitcher Festival extends its deep appreciation to the international jury, composed of industry leaders from across Africa and beyond, who meticulously judged, curated, and benchmarked the 2026 entries. Their expertise and dedication ensured that this year’s awards upheld the highest standards of creative excellence.

    The category juries were led by the following Jury Presidents:

    • Care — Kerstin Trikalitis, CEO & Co‑Founder, Out There Media
    • Channel — Dozie Okafor, MD/CEO, PHD Nigeria & President, MIPAN
    • Craft — Yash Deb, Co‑Founder & Creative Partner, The Bar Africa, Kenya
    • Culture — Anand Badami, SVP & Growth Lead, Emerging Markets & Innovation, Publicis West Africa
    • Digital — Karim Yermeche, CEO, Lotus Conseil, Algeria
    • Good & Effectiveness — Dawn Rowlands, CEO, Dentsu Africa
    • Entertainment — Steve Babaeko, CEO/CCO, X3M Ideas & Vice President, Area Director for Africa, IAA
    • Heritage — Maxwell Ngari, Chief Creative Officer, Dentsu Creative East Africa

    A Celebration of African Creativity

    The 2026 edition once again highlighted the imagination, discipline, and creative excellence shaping the future of African storytelling. Winning entries will be featured globally as part of the Pitcher Showcase, the festival’s traveling pop‑up exhibition.

    As the Pitcher Awards prepares to celebrate its 10th edition in 2027, the festival looks ahead to an even grander celebration of a decade of creative excellence.

    Explore all winners and recognized work at www.PitcherFestival.com or continue with more festival updates.

  • MAGGI Reinforces Local Sourcing Commitment with Regenerative Farming Initiative

    MAGGI Reinforces Local Sourcing Commitment with Regenerative Farming Initiative

    MAGGI, Nigeria’s leading seasoning brand from Nestlé, has announced the successful completion of its Regenerative Agriculture (RegenAg) pilot for local soybean sourcing, a milestone that has inspired a broader program now supporting 25,000 smallholder farmers across Nigeria.

    Launched in 2023 with an investment of over ₦100 million, the pilot supported 1,030 soybean farmers to adopt climate-smart practices that improved their yields while restoring soil health. Implemented in partnership with TechnoServe and IDH, with technical guidance from the Centre for No-Till Agriculture (CNTA), Ghana, the project demonstrated the potential of regenerative farming to transform smallholder agriculture in Nigeria.

    The pilot introduced simple but effective techniques such as cover cropping, minimal tillage (ripping), crop rotation, and hedgerows, leading to healthier soils and higher yields.

    “Soybean is a key ingredient in MAGGI, and supporting local farmers to grow it sustainably is central to our mission,” said Funmi Osineye, Category Manager for Culinary, Nestlé Nigeria. “This initiative is more than a sourcing strategy; it is an investment in resilient food systems. By equipping farmers, especially women and youth, with regenerative agriculture skills, we are improving productivity today while protecting the land for future generations. This is how MAGGI continues to nourish Nigerian families while helping build a stronger agricultural economy.”

    At a celebration event held to mark the pilot’s success, over 150 stakeholders from agriculture, development and industry came together to recognize five award-winning farmers for their outstanding adoption of regenerative practices. One of the farmers, Engineer Lawan Abdul, shared a compelling testimonial.

    “Since I started adopting these strategies, as we were taught in this project, my yields have increased by 100%. This was very encouraging, and I would like to applaud the project organizers and thank MAGGI for bringing this to us.”

    The pilot’s success has paved the way for a larger, multi-partner scale-up initiative, now backed by AGRA and MAGGI’s parent brand, Nestlé, to reach 25,000 smallholder farmers across Nigeria. The program aims to produce at least 80,000 metric tonnes of quality grains annually, with a growing share cultivated using regenerative practices.

    “This project shows what is possible when businesses, development partners and farmers work together,” said Alidu Amadu, Head of Agriculture Services, Nestlé Central & West Africa Region (CWAR). “Regenerative agriculture not only restores soil health but also builds long-term productivity and resilience for local communities.”

    This initiative contributes to Nestlé’s global ambition to source 20% of key ingredients through regenerative agricultural methods by 2025 and 50% by 2030, while supporting Nigeria’s broader food security and rural development goals.

  • MAGGI Partners African Cleanup Initiative (ACI) to Clean Up Agege Market

    MAGGI Partners African Cleanup Initiative (ACI) to Clean Up Agege Market


    Maggi, an iconic brand from the stable of Nestlé – the good food, good life company, cleaned up Agege Market recently with a team of volunteers from Nestlé Nigeria and African Cleanup Initiative (ACI) – an NGO. The clean-up
    activity took place on Thursday March 24, 2022.

    Speaking on the initiative, the Category and Marketing Manager for Culinary, Nestlé Nigeria PLC, Nwando Ajene said, “Our company is leading efforts in tackling post consumption waste management through various initiatives including this clean-up exercise. In addition to removing waste from the environment, we are also raising awareness and promoting behavioral change, which are both very critical to achieving a cleaner environment through proper waste management. We are happy to partner with the African Cleanup Initiative (ACI), and all the Nestlé volunteers who have come out today to show their
    commitment to rejuvenating our planet.”

    Also commenting during the clean-up activity, Alexander Akhigbe, the founder of African Cleanup Initiative (ACI) mentioned that ACI is proud to cleanup Oniwaya Market, Agege with Maggi. Volunteers from both teams demonstrated a high level of enthusiasm that aided the effective waste removal efforts. This partnership with MAGGI also serves as an added opportunity for ACI to
    “environgelize” for environmental sanity and sustainability. We are also happy with the opportunity to donate cleaning tools like packers and brooms to the market team which was supported by Maggi.

    Nestlé is committed to packaging and delivering her products in ways that are safe to continuously protect the environment for future generations. The company has also announced ambitious sustainability goals to advance the
    health of our planet, including cutting greenhouse gas emissions to achieve net zero by 2050.

    The company recognizes that multi-stakeholder action is required to achieve this objective and is therefore working with partners including other stakeholders in
    the Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA), Wecyclers and Chanja Datti and ACI on the management of post-consumer packaging plastic materials. These collaborative efforts help to advance Nestlé’s vision that none of its packaging, including plastics, ends up in landfills or as litter, in oceans, lakes or rivers.


    In 2021 alone, over 4,756.5TMT of plastic waste was removed from the environment through the collection initiatives and community projects of FBRA and Nestlé Nigeria partnerships with Wecyclers and Chanja Datti.
    A total of 99.4 Kilograms of solid waste including 4.1 Kilograms of recyclable waste was removed from the environment during the recent market clean-up
    exercise. The collected waste was segregated and sent for further processing.