Innscor targets 1million loaves

Mr John Koumides has said.

He said this after the commissioning of Baker’s Inn two new bakery lines at cost of US$16 million at its Shepperton Road branch in Southern, Harare yesterday.

The state of the art plant has capacity to produce over 600 000 loaves of bread per day and pushes Bakers Inn’s share of the market to 25 percent with further expansion expected by December.

Mr Koumides said that Baker’s Inn will install an additional two new lines at a cost of US$15 million to bring total bread production capacity to 700 000 per day by December 2013.

Innscor Africa intends to put up eight new lines by 2015 to take Baker’s Inn total capacity to one million loaves per day target by 2015 to make the Shepperton plant one of the largest worldwide.

Acting President Joice Mujuru was the Guest of Honour at the Shepperton plant commissioning ceremony attended by a number of senior Government ministers, officials, the firm’s suppliers, bankers, fellow bakers and stakeholders in industry.

Mr John Koumides said the Baker’s Inn bread would now be produced from the most advanced technology in the world offering tangible benefits to customers in terms of quality and health.

“The investment we are witnessing today through our Baker’s Inn brand is therefore continuation of our quest to not only add value to our shareholders, but create tangible benefits for the nation as a whole,”Mr Koumides said at the ceremony.

He said the plant would guarantee freshness of Baker’s Inn bread, better hygiene, modern and non stick baking trays and reverse osmosis among a series of benefits of the technology.

Mr Koumides said the Innscor was excited about the prospects for the Zimbabwe economy hence the massive investment and steadfastness even at the height of the economic downturn. Innscor’s continued investment in expanding capacity has seen the company increasing its workforce from 300 in 2008 to 1 800 now with an additional 300 jobs to come by December.

The firm commissioned a US$1 million plant at its Lyton Road in 2010, invested US$2 million into increasing capacity in Bulawayo and US$8 million in ramping up output in Harare last year before embarking on the Shepperton plant.