The Nation Newspaper

Tag: bakers

  • Bakers delight in new margarine

    HANNO FOODS, a subsidiary of Deekay Group of Companies, has launched a new brand of margarine, Haano 15kg.

    Justifying the need for the new product, Heads, Brands and Corporate Communication of Deekay Group, Damilola Owolabi said before now, it had only one stock unit of margarine which is the small 250 gram unit for household use, but the major users of the margarine who are the bakers and the few of those who use it to cook demanded for more.

    “Bakers are the major consumers of the margarine and they complain that they always end up using a lot of the 250 gram for their baking and that was what informed the introduction of the 15kg to cater for their heavy use.

    “It is a two -ear company and we are still in the process of evolving. Next year, our products will be relaunched into the market. We partner with the bakers association because bread is a major food in Nigerian market. From their own testimony, we will have an extension of word of mouth on the product. Bakers are the major target for this brand.”

    The event which attracted over 40 bakers from 20 local government areas in attendance, including the chairman, Association of Master Bakers and Caters of Nigeria, Prince Jacob Anjorin, who attested to the high quality of the product.

  • Lagos urges bakers to reduce pollution for healthy life

    Lagos urges bakers to reduce pollution for healthy life

    The Lagos State Government has urged bakers to embrace the Environment Pollution Management System (EPMS).

    Government said the policy would preserve the environment by ensuring that bakeries maintain standards that would promote safety of the environment and the bread they produce.

    The General Manager, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), Mr. Rasheed Shabi, said at a seminar themed: “Effect of bakery activities on the environment in the state,” said bakers were crucial to the policy’s implementation.

    Shabi said the carbon audit carried out by his agency showed that bakers contribute 18 percent of emitted pollution in the state.

    The bakers, who produce bread which is consumed by 80 percent of the population, he said, must embrace modern baking standards that would reduce their carbon emission.

    “The EPMS will ensure that you are able to reduce pollution throughout the life cycle of the bakery. The wastes produced by the baking houses could be reused, reduced, recycled or recovered by the operators,” he said.

    The Director of Operational Health, Occupational Health and Environmental Services, Dr. Layeni-Adeyemo said high standard of personal hygiene was sacrosanct for all operators and workers.

    She urged bakers to maintain good hygiene to prevent food contamination and epidemics.

    The Special Adviser to the Governor on Environment, Dr. Taofeek Folami, and Hon. Abiodun Tobun, who chairs the Environment Committee in the House of Assembly, said the seminar would boost bakers’ profitability in their businesses.

    The Chairman, Master Bakers and Caterers Association of Nigeria (MBAN), Prince Jacob Anjorin, urged government to give bakers loans for improved operations.

  • Lagos bakers endorse Mama Gold Flour

    Lagos bakers endorse Mama Gold Flour

    The Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria (AMBCN), Lagos Chapter has praised Crown Flour for introducing Mama Gold Flour into the market.

    Presenting a certificate of attestation to the company in Lagos, the association’s Chairman, Prince Jacob Adejorin, said the product has increased the profit margins of members.

    According to him, the association arrived at the idea of presenting a certificate to the company after the product had been tested during the last baking exercise carried out by the company in all the 20 local governments in the state.

    The company’s Managing Director, Mr. Anurag Shukla, explained that the decision to introduce Mama Gold Flour was informed by the need to enhance quality and the economic fortunes of bakers and caterers.

    The Deputy General Manager, Marketing, Mr. John Olaoye, added that the flour was as a result of market research and consumer insight which revealed that bakers and caterers  wanted a flour that was better than those in the market.

  • Bakers endorse Honeywell Flour’s SME initiative

    Bakers endorse Honeywell Flour’s SME initiative

    Bakers, under the aegis of the Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria (AMBCN), Lagos State chapter, have commended the Management of Honeywell Flour Mills Plc for sustaining the quality of its flour production, noting that the product has contributed to the profitability of its users, especially small businesses.

    According to the bakers, the flour, which is used mainly in the production of bread and other flour-based confectionery, have met with their expectations, especially through increased production with positive multiplier effects on the profit margin.

    In a statement, the bakers, while at the certificate award ceremony of the regular course 23 of the Honeywell Flour Mills baking school, lauded the company for instituting a programme that seeks to transform bakers’ businesses.

    Chairman, Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria (AMBCN), Lagos State chapter, Jacob Adejorin, lauded Honeywell for instituting such a programme, saying his members have benefited immensely as they have utilised knowledge acquired to transform their respective businesses.

    Describing Honeywell’s gesture as wonderful, he urged other corporate organisations to emulate the company’s corporate social responsibility initiative.

    Speaking for Alumni of the school, John Johnson who graduated from Regular Course 22 urged the graduands, to put knowledge acquired into practice, saying every detail in production counts.

    Executive Vice Chairman, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, Babatunde Odunayo noted that the school, which has trained and graduated over 300 Master Bakers from different parts of the country in 22 Regular Courses and 1 Executive Course, is a highly subsidised programme aimed at empowering bakers with modern baking skills and flour handling procedures that they can use to maximise yield from flour and run their bakery operations more professionally and profitably.

    Odunayo, represented by Production Director, Dr. Nino Ozara said the school remains the best any flourmill in the country has given to bakers since it touches not only their financial needs, but intellectual and social needs.

    He assured that the company would continue to serve them with increased quantities of superior quality products with the recent addition of two new mills, which are state-of-the-art facilities and which has brought production capacity to 2,610 metric tonnes from 1,610 metric tonnes, a 62 per cent increase.

    The flour milling business in Nigeria has evolved over the last two decades. In the past, Nigeria was largely dependent on flour imported from overseas to meet growing demand for flour derivatives such as bread, cakes, burgers etc. Nigeria’s dependence on imported flour came at a huge cost to the country as capital flight was the order of the day. This sad situation meant that jobs were not created for Nigerians as the flour-producing companies were located abroad, the quality of imported flour could not be guaranteed due depreciation in transit over time.

    The emergence of Gateway Honeywell Flour Mills Limited in 1985 set the tone for transformation of the industry. In June 1995, a change in the ownership structure of the company led to a change of the name from Gateway Honeywell Flour Mills Limited to Honeywell Flour Mills Limited (HFML). After its initial public offer (IPO) and listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 2008, Honeywell Flour Mills Limited became a public liability company. Trading as a publicly quoted company on NSE in 2009 also necessitated a slight adjustment in the company’s name to Honeywell Flour Mills Plc.

    The entry of Honeywell Flour Mills Plc into the flour milling industry in Nigeria was a game-changer as it redefined industry standards. HFMP’s top quality flour products compelled an improvement in the quality of flour products by other players. Over the years, HFMP has positioned itself through product quality, deployment of world class facilities and manpower, as a market leader in milling, processing & packaging of flour and other wheat based products.

    Since inception, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc has remained one of the most profitable companies in Nigeria. Listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange is proof of the high level of confidence in the company’s profitability. To further demonstrate the profitability of Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, the company recently held its 4th Annual General Meeting (AGM) on September 24th, 2013 during which it declared profit after tax of N2.84bn.

  • Honeywell graduates bakers

    Honeywell graduates bakers

    To continue to ensure quality baked products, Honeywell Flour Mills, has graduated another set of bakers.

    The graduation, which took place in Lagos, was for the 23rd set of the Honeywell Flour Mills Plc Baking School (HFMP).

    The school, according to the company’s Executive Vice-Chairman Mr Babatunde Odunayo, is an experiential programme designed to give bakers first-hand baking training with well-trained experts in a world class environment.

    Odunayo said: “It is a subsidised programme aimed at empowering bakers with modern baking skills and flour handling procedures that they can use to maximise yield from flour and run their bakery operations more professionally and profitably.”

    Odunayo, who was represented by the company’s Production Director Dr Nino Ozara, said: “The school remains the best gift any flour mills in the country has given to bakers since it touches not only their financial needs, but intellectual and social needs.”

    The school was started in 2006 and has graduated over 300 master bakers from different parts of the country in 22 regular courses and one executive course.

    On the purpose of the school, Ozara said: “The company’s desire for a better world keeps us on our feet at all times, making us search for better ways to improve the quality of our brands, services and the life and businesses of our customers.”

    He charged the 12 graduands, (nine males and three females), to continue to reflect on what they learnt and apply same to progress further.

    Responding on behalf of the graduands, the class captain Mr David Agbonyin, said: “Blessed is the mind on which the idea of the Honeywell baking school was conceived.

    “We cannot thank the management of Honeywell Flour Mills enough for the opportunity given us to be part of the school.”