Bakers Inn to build second plant in Byo

Business Reporter

Baker’s Inn, a division of Victoria Falls Stock Exchange-listed Innscor Africa, is set to put up a second plant at its Belmont factory in Bulawayo as part of its expansion plans.

The company last week commissioned a US$27,8 million bakery. It is now operating at full capacity, producing 8 000 loaves of bread per hour, and has yielded significantly improved loaf quality and consistency.

The second line is part of the company’s plan to ramp up capacity to supply the country’s southern region.

Innscor chairman Mr Addington Chinake said that the company would soon be installing a second line “imminently”, to ease capacity for the southern region, which encompasses Midlands and the two Matabeleland provinces.

He was speaking at the official commissioning of the first line of the Leeds Road Factory in Bulawayo where President Mnangagwa was guest of honour.

The plant contributes more than a quarter of the company’s bread supply and has brought increased efficiency for Baker’s Inn, with reduced waste and fuel costs.

This is a significant step forward for Baker’s Inn. With the Bulawayo plant up and running, the company is one step closer to achieving its goal of providing the freshest, tastiest bread to every corner of the nation.

Zimbabwe’s national bread demand is currently at 950 000 loaves per day.

Baker’s Inn Bulawayo utilises a fleet of 91 trucks that travel over 14 000 kilometres daily. This delivery network guarantees that nearly 5 500 individuals, including vendors and retailers across the region, receive their daily supply of freshly baked bread.

In its latest trading update for the third quarter to March, Innscor said that bread volumes at its Baker’s Inn division closed 16 percent ahead of the comparative nine-month period, enhanced by a consistent flour price, and the maintenance of a convenient exit price point to the consumer, notwithstanding the change in the Value Added Tax of the product during the quarter under review.

Following the changes in the local currency regime, the price of a loaf is at ZiG 13,50.

Over the past two financial years, Innscor has invested US$125 million in expansion capital across its divisions. Much of this investment has recently been commissioned or is in the final stages of being commissioned.

The group said that efforts continue to also be directed toward ensuring new investments achieve targeted returns, while overall free cash generation remains a vital performance metric for the group, in support of future financing and investing activities.