Jonathan Eze
The Golden Sugar Company, one of the subsidiaries of Flour Mills of Nigeria, (FMN), the food and agro allied group, has reaffirmed commitment to the development of sugar value chain in Nigeria and in line with the federal government backward integration policy regarding the mandatory upstream operations requirement for sugar processing.
Basking in the euphoria of winning the 2019 Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) awards in France, the company expressed its desire to continue setting the pace for more global recognitions and with consumers’ satisfaction as its goal.
The Deputy Managing Director, Mr. Maniatis Ioannis John, also noted that the journey through the global market programme had been truly inspirational and rewarding.
He said: ”We know that sugar is enjoyed by millions of Nigerian families every day, so this is just one of the many initiatives that we have put in place to assure them of our commitment to quality and safe food for all.”
John added that with an installed capacity to process 7,500 metric tonnes of sugar production per annum, the company is poised to take advantage of the backward integration programme. He said the industry must be properly incentivised to stay competitive.
He further stated that smuggling of sugar into the country had affected the growth of sugar production along the value chain, given the challenges, there’s grappling of export and fall in price. Smuggling slows down the backward integration programme.
The award, however, was in recognition of safety standards and it intends to strengthen the diversity of food safety around the world from Africa, Asia, America and Europe. The key performance index reveals that GFSI reviewed benchmark for the assessment of food implementation, food defense, food assessment and the dangers of food fraud on consumers and end users.
Chairman, of the GFSI Board, Mike Robach said: ”The global markets Award 2019 recognised the commitment of companies all over the world to their food safety journey.”
He said, this year, the selection committee focused on the efforts and innovations the companies have made in creating an environment for food safety and a culture of continuous improvement.
Addressing journalists during a factory tour in Lagos, the Quality Assurance Manager, Mrs. Veronica Kalu-Ufe, said the award is a motivation for hard work and a great task to take the lead among other competitors in the industry. She reaffirmed that FMN is committed to maintaining the international regulatory standard for food safety.
She added that Golden Sugar company started full operations in Nigeria market in 2012 and so far, 100 per cent of the packing materials have been locally sourced within the country thereby boosting the economies of local producers.
Golden sugar Company acquired 100 per cent equity in Sunti Golden Sugar Estate Limited (SGSE) which was formally inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari. The investment in Nigeria, according to its management is a concrete example of FMN’s commitment to reduce sugar importation, increase Foreign direct investment, boost local capacity and reduce unemployment by putting thousands of Nigerians to work in the Agricultural sector.
