Golden Sugar Coy Wins Award, Affirms Commitment to Growth

Jonathan Eze
The Golden sugar company which is one of the subsidiaries of the Flour Mills of Nigeria, (FMN), Food and Agro- Allied Group has reaffirmed its commitment to the development of the sugar value chain 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 a desire to continue in setting the pace for more global recognitions and with consumers’ satisfaction as its goal.
The Deputy Managing Director, Mr. Maniatis Ioannis John, noted that the journey through the global market programme has 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 the smuggling of sugar into the country had affected the growth of its 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 revealed 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.
The 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.”

According to him, this year, the selection committee focused on the efforts and innovations the companies had 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 was 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 its 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.