World Grain - April 2014 - 49

FEATURE: AFRICAN GIANT CONTINUES EXPANSION

in a recent interview. "We enhance
our quality in order to strengthen our
'Golden Penny' brand, market performance and retain our leadership position in the industry."
To reach its current level of ﬂour
milling production, FMN has made signiﬁcant investments, particularly over
the ﬁrst decade of this century. Prior to
2001, FMN's total milling capacity was
in the region of 2,000 tonnes per day.
From 2001-02, FMN invested heavily to
convert, expand, refurbish and replace
its milling units to increase capacity and
ﬂexibility of production.
By 2010, virtually all old mills were
either refurbished or replaced while
new mills were built. All the mills are
driven by modern technology i.e. program logically controlled mills (PLC).
As a result of that ﬁrst round of investments, FMN's milling capacity rose to
about 5,750 tonnes per day. The commissioning of the West Mills facility in September 2012 raised FMN's
total milling capacity by 39% to its
current level.
INVESTMENTS IN
PEOPLE AND QUALITY
Throughout its 54 years of operation,
FMN has invested in the latest technology and training for its millers.
"Flour Mills of Nigeria has a strong
people-focused policy. The continuous
development and welfare of employees is of the main concern. Therefore,
FMN has been a major contributor of
milling students to the Swiss Milling
School and the nabim London City &
Guild program over the last 10 years,"
Gbededo noted.
To ensure quality products and employees with the most up-to-date knowledge, FMN has used regular in-house
and overseas trainings and professional
development programs to strengthen its
technical know-how and personnel in
its Quality Assurance Division. FMN
has also established an ultra-modern
Quality Control Laboratory.
"In addition, our Flour Operations
Division was recently certiﬁed with the
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NIS ISO 9001:2008 Quality Standards.
Our Quality Assurance Division carries
out rigorous tests of all our inputs. The
same is done with our ﬁnished products
through test baking on a daily basis before they are released into the market,"
Gbededo said.
INVESTING IN PRODUCTS
FMN's ﬂour and bakery segment
product line consists of prime ﬂour, confectionary ﬂour, noodle ﬂour and soft
biscuit ﬂour, and the newest addition is
the Fleur D'Afrique, which is being sold
in The Republic of Benin. FMN is currently working on a strategy to extend
sales of Fleur D'Afrique to other West
African markets. FMN's best-selling
product in this segment is prime ﬂour
for bread making.
FMN works through four channels to
distribute its ﬂour to its customers.
* Dealers and merchandisers;
* Direct supply to bakers and bakeries;
* Direct supply to industrial users
such as biscuit manufacturers;
* FMN's Customer Service Centers
all over Nigeria.
FMN invests a great deal of time and
energy to determine what its customers
need and the consumers want.
"FMN is committed to producing consistently high-quality wheat products
that exceed customers' expectations and
as a result, we listen to the customer/
consumer and work with them throughout the product development process,"
Gbededo said.
With a population of approximately
175 million and a population growth
rate of 2.54%, Nigeria is the most populous nation in Africa and the eighth most
populous nation in the world. FMN is
constantly researching to establish customer/consumer needs and then develops products to satisfy those needs.
"Product ideas are analyzed to establish the attractiveness of the opportunity," Gbededo said. "Concepts/recipes
are developed working with in-house
Research & Development and external
partners/suppliers. Concepts are then
tested with customers/consumers, ﬁne-

Paul Gbededo, managing director of FMN

tuned and relevant business cases and
proﬁtability analysis done and, if positive, then product is launched."
A number of trends in the Nigerian
market and lifestyle changes for the
population are creating opportunities
for FMN.
"Recent changes in lifestyles, increasing urbanization and number of working wives has created opportunities for
quick-to-prepare meals and on-the-go
snacks," Gbededo said. "The average
urban worker spends about two hours
in trafﬁc daily and research has shown
that 49% snack during this period, thus
accounting for the growing demand for
on-the-go meals."
In addition to the impact that work/
life changes among Nigeria's growing
population is having on their consumption habits, a growing middle class and
health consciousness is also driving
product demands.
"A rapidly growing population, a
growing middle class and change in
taste have inﬂuenced the demand trend
for wheat and wheat-based products,"
Gbededo said. "In addition, many people are conscious of the health implica49

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World Grain - April 2014

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