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Olam unfolds diversification plan as subsidiary expands capacity

By Abosede Musari, Abuja
21 October 2015   |   2:28 am
Olam International has unveiled plans to expand its milling capacity of flour subsidiary by 2016 as part of plans to enhance employment generation and meet consumers’ needs. Managing Director of Crown Flour Mills, a subsidiary of Olam, Anurag Shukla, while speaking at this year’s national customers’ forum held in Abuja recently, stated that expanding the…
Olam International. PHOTO: diabrands

Olam International. PHOTO: diabrands

Olam International has unveiled plans to expand its milling capacity of flour subsidiary by 2016 as part of plans to enhance employment generation and meet consumers’ needs.

Managing Director of Crown Flour Mills, a subsidiary of Olam, Anurag Shukla, while speaking at this year’s national customers’ forum held in Abuja recently, stated that expanding the milling capacity of the company will help the nation’s economy in terms of creating employment for the teeming youth population.

In addition to the planned expansion at the flour-milling subsidiary, the parent company, Olam also plans to diversify its investment into the animal feeds sector, both for the Nigerian market as well as for export.

Earlier in an interview, Commercial Director of the Company, Bolaji Anifowose told journalists that the company has introduced new products as well as improved on existing ones, saying: “We are going into a serious expansion programme in the new year and we have to discuss this with our customers, hence we are holding this forum”.

He however admitted that the issue of insurgency in the North East has affected sales in that region.

“The company is a citizen of Nigeria and whatever is affecting the country affects the company as far as the North-East is concerned, but like every Nigerian, we are coping. We have been lucky we have not lost anybody, staff or customers. Volumes in the North-East have slightly gone down but we have to look at opportunities to cover up for losses in that region”, he said.

Anifowose also noted that the company has developed variants within the flour sector to meet the needs of Nigerians.

“We have different kinds of flour for different purposes across Nigeria. We have also been able to identify the needs of the different regions of the country to meet them.

“This is a yearly event. It is a forum for self-appraisal and we want to get feedback from customers so we can improve. We also celebrate the customers”, he added.

One of the dealers who spoke in an interview, Mrs. Ajibola Elizabeth praised Crown Flour for the jobs being created within the Nigerian economy and for innovative products, which she said, has gained wide acceptance in the market.

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