Buoyed by its new international standards accolade the National Milling Company (NAMILCO) is seeking to further enhance its reputation as a local manufacturer by focussing both on the qualitative enhancement of its products to address consumer health considerations as well as on the increase of its growing regional market share.
Meanwhile, the promise of a new and potentially significant market in neighbouring Brazil beckons, according to the company’s General Manager Bert Sukhai,
In the wake of its acquisition of the prestigious IS9O01—2008 certification NAMILCO has announced the launch of four new products in its Maid Marian range, three of which – Wheat Germ, Whole Wheat and Multi Grain – are health-related products which, according to Sukhai target nutritional concerns associated with healthy diet.
A focus on healthy eating that goes beyond the routine promotional pursuits of most manufacturers is a marketing luxury which NAMILCO can well afford in the wake of the national and regional recognition from which the company has benefited in the wake of its new standards accolade.
When Stabroek Business spoke with an upbeat Sukhai earlier this week he said that the new ISO certification also positions the company to pursue a more aggressive regional marketing progamme for its products in order to consolidate already existing markets in Barbados, Antigua and Dominica and a smaller market in the Turks and Caicos Islands. He said that Dominica held good prospects for an increase in regional market share where NAMILCO is competing with the Trinidad and Tobago Milling Company which also holds ISO certification.
At home, NAMILCO’s efforts to raise the level of consciousness on the issue of healthy eating is centred around three of its four new products –Wheat Germ, Whole Wheat and multi-grain, products which Sukhai says are linked by nutritionists globally to a reduction in the incidence of aliments like heart disease and colon cancer.
Supported by a qualified management team that includes the company’s Operations Manager, Ralph Hemsing and its Quality Control Technician Taijwattie William, Sukhai told Stabroek Business that NAMILCO’s drive to provide local consumers with more health-related products was attended by a policy of seeking to ensure that its price levels remain within the reach of ordinary consumers. He said that there had been “no significant increase in the price of the company’s whole wheat flour which is currently available at local retail outlets in 1-kilo packages.
The local milling company, meanwhile, is gearing itself to take advantage of market opportunities that promise to emerge in northern Brazil with the opening up of the new road link between Guyana and its southern neighbour. Sukhai told Stabroek Business that NAMILCO has been accorded priority consideration for the allocation of land in the Lethem area which will be used for the construction of physical infrastructure, including storage bonds to facilitate trade with Brazil.
Sukhai says that NAMILCO has already begun to work with the Brazilian authorities in order to familiarise itself with customs and other regulations. The company’s marketing pursuits in Brazil have already commenced with efforts to engage bakers in areas of Boa Vista, Bon Fim and Manaus in order to establish firm business relationships with potential importers.
The company’s plans for the consolidation of its market in Brazil and for the provision of services to the Lethem community include the planned construction of a storage bond and the establishment of a bakery to service the Lethem area. “The market at the moment is only around 3,000 to 4,000 bags but it is an opportunity that we are seeking to take advantage of,” Sukhai says.
Meanwhile, NAMILCO is seeking to break new ground at home with the planned establishment of a ‘test’ bakery which Sukhai said will be used to provide practical demonstrations to local bakers in the use of the company’s flour products.
