By Omolabake Fasogbon
Vegetable cooking oil brand, Power Oil, has taken its fitness campaign, ‘Pay with Calories’ up a notch, as the initiative was extended to factory workers across the country.
The ‘Pay With Calories’ was a health and fitness focused campaign that engaged consumers in a series of exercises on treadmills and cyclers, which eventually had them rewarded with gift items based on the amount of calories they were able to burn within a specified time on the spot.
Before now, the initiative was limited to the firm’s external publics as part of its corporate social responsibility projects for a healthy population.
The campaign, which is now activated internally, will see over 4000 factory workers of Power Oil sister companies and others, actively engaged in fitness work for three weeks.
According to the company, beneficiaries of the exercise included, De United Foods Industries and Seasoning Factory, both in Ota, Ogun State, Dufil Prima Foods Plc and Pure Flour Mills in Port Harcourt, Northern Noodles, Kaduna, Insignia Prints and Raffles Oil Enterprises, both in Ibeju Lekki, Lagos, Ikorodu Noodle Factory and Standard Flour Mills in Lagos.
Speaking on the activity, the Brand Manager, Power Oil, Miss. Amisha Chawla, stated that the initiative further positioned the company as being employees friendly and committed to workers’ wellness.
She said: “Taking the campaign to these factories is most strategic, as we reckon that most of the staff might not have sufficient time to build their physical strength outside work hours, hence, we decided to bring the activity closer to them within their comfort zone. More interesting is the free time they enjoyed to participate in the programme.”
She added that beyond the physical exercise that will also earn participants various prizes in exchange for the number of calories burnt, members of staff would also be guided on different ways and lifestyle to adopt for them to lead a healthy life.
Speaking during the programme at Insignia Prints, Public Relations Manager, Tolaram Group, Mrs. Omotayo Azeez- Abiodun, explained that the activity was important going by rising health concerns.
“In essence, our motive is to encourage every Nigerian irrespective of social economic class to further become mindful of his or her heart health by making efforts to maintain good body fitness,” she said.
“ Possibly, to eliminate unhealthy consumption habits, as these factors are important to lowering the risk of blood pressure and heart-related ailments. So far, we have covered six factories,we hope to cover the remaining three within the shortest time,” she said.
One of the participants and an employee of Indomie Seasoning Plant,Mr. Adio Gbemiga, was able to burn 70 calories within six minutes on the treadmill and won a pair of sneakers as a result.
Expressing delight at the initiative, he said, “health promotion activity like this inspire me and also encourage others to take exercise as a daily routine”.
Other gifts presented to winners included,yoga nat, sneakers, water bottles, footballs, smart watches, tummy trimming machine etc
