The National Milling Company of Guyana Inc (NAMILCO), local producer of flour and flour-products, will today be hosting a ceremony to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
The company, which is the subsidiary of the Kansas, United States based Seaboard Corporation, began operations in Guyana on May 17, 1969.
A release from the company stated that today’s event will be attended by officials from the parent company, including Steven Bresky, President and Chief Executive Officer; Dave Dannov, CEO of Commodity Trading and Milling; James Gutsch, Senior Vice President Engineering; and Ralf Moss, Senior Vice President of Governmental Affairs.
The release outlined the strides of the company over its decades here. It was stated that NAMILCO, the producer of Thunderbolt All Purpose Flour, Maid Marian Self-Rising Flour and Maid Marian Pholourie QuickMix, among others, has grown considerably since its establishment in 1969, and now exports its flour and specialty flour products to St. Maarten, Antigua, Barbados, Canada, Suriname and Brazil.
The company also now has a workforce of 136 employees, and boasts a production rate of 240 metric tonnes of wheat per day.
The release noted that Seaboard Corporation, seizing the opportunity to turn Guyana into a flour producer and supplier, chose to establish a mill locally, rather than import flour.
The mill was established with a capacity to produce 3,300 100-pound sacks over a 24 hour period, and the company hired 45 employees at its inception.
It was stated that as demand for the product increased, employment opportunities for Guyanese expanded and NAMILCO became the first manufacturing enterprise in Guyana to operate three eight-hour shifts per day.
“Striving to produce a consistent quality product, over the years, NAMILCO has re-tooled the mill, installing state of the art Buhler Packaging machines, scales, roller mills and storage silos. On the 40th Anniversary of the company, it achieved ISO 9001 certification and through this it has committed to developing, maintaining and continually improving its Quality Management System,” the release said.
“We are proud of our history. The company has grown significantly over the years, not by chance, but through hard work, dedication, vision and tenacity through difficult times,” Managing Director of NAMILCO, Bert Sukhai stated, adding, “Being aware of the needs of our consumers and endeavouring our very best to fill those needs, is key to our past success and to our future success”.
