Posted on May, 6, 2019 at 10:27 am
By GERALD ANDAE - Business Daily
Grain miller Unga Group has commissioned a wheat mill with a 300-tonne daily capacity in Eldoret, raising competition.
The company already has an existing line besides the new “state-of-the-art” plant expected to more than double capacity.
The line, earlier slated for commissioning in October, was opened in mid-December, according to the firm chief executive officer Nick Hutchinson.
“We started to use the new mill in mid-December and have been doing so ever since,” said Mr Hutchinson in an interview.
The line previously in use at the Eldoret plant has a capacity of 250 tonnes.
The firm also processes maize flour at the Uasin Gishu-based facility.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed miller plans to install a soya meal production line at its Dakar Road, Nairobi, plant in the course of the 2018/2019 financial year.
The company, however, has predicted a more difficult financial year 2018/19 during which it expects to register lower profitability following increased competition.
“With the prevailing depressed demand and increased competition in the flour-milling business, the 2018/19 financial year is expected to be difficult and less profitable,” said the firm in its financial report last year.
In the last one year, Unga competitors who have commissioned wheat milling plants include Capwell Industries, the makers of Soko Unga, which is now processing wheat flour under the brand name of Soko.
Capwell invested Sh1 billion in its wheat flour plant as it embarked on an expansion drive that has seen it introduce more products in the market.
The company used to have wheat flour under Best Cook brand through contract manufacturing but discontinued the brand some years back.
The new plant, which has a 250 tonne daily capacity, comprises pre-cleaning equipment and a storage silo with a capacity of 15,000 tonnes.
Source: Business Daily