By Dipo Olowookere
Managing Director of Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, Mr Lanre Jaiyeola, says the company has identified some key areas to help the business stay on the path to growth and sustainability.
Mr Jaiyeola made this disclosure at the firm’s annual customers’ forum and awards held recently in Lagos.
According to him, the company plans to become a major player in the sector and make its products the preferred in various households in the country.
Honeywell Flours Mills faces a stiff competition from Dangote Flour Mills, a major player in the industry with huge financial muscle.
But Mr Jaiyeola expressed optimism that when its new state-of-the-art pasta plant in Sagamu, Ogun State is completed, it would boost its market share.
He said the new factory would consist of four pasta lines with an annual capacity of about 140,000 metric tonnes every year, making it one of the most sophisticated pasta plants in sub-Saharan Africa.
According to him, “This facility will produce pasta using both wheat and local grains. With this high capacity lines, we will provide you with innovative and exciting cuts, shapes and sizes of pasta.”
The Honeywell chief noted that the company will record profit in 2018 financial year in spite of the prevailing harsh conditions plaguing the nation’s industrial sector.
According to him, despite many challenges that faced the manufacturing sector in 2017, such as the high exchange rate, scarcity of dollars, rising cost of wheat and high cost of borrowing, the company was able to survive and that it had evolved to achieve more growth in 2018.
“The recession period is over and like any other business, we were also affected, but because we have a very formidable team and a very strong board, we were able to identify those key areas of the business that can help us position our business on the trajectory of growth and sustainability,” Mr Jaiyeola said.
He said at the ceremony that Honeywell has assisted wheat farmers in the country to grow more wheat to ensure that there was sufficient quantity of local wheat for the industry, saying this support must continue in view of the fact that the volume of local wheat, which was 600,000 metric tonne, fell short of the industry’s demand of 4.5 million MT.
He commended the unwavering support and loyalty of the firm’s customers for standing with the firm throughout the recession period,
