PZ Wilmar invests $78m, reaches 85% capacity utilisation

PZ Wilmar Limited, a joint venture between PZ Cussons and Wilmar of Singapore, has made investments worth $78 million in Nigeria and has attained between 80 percent and 85 percent capacity utilisation, according to Santosh Pillai, managing director, West Africa, PZ Wilmar.

He said the company started its backward integration programme by growing its own palm oil in three estates in Cross River State, stressing that Nigeria needed to grow palm oil because it had both competitive and comparative advantages in the commodity.

The greatest problem the company was facing was policy somersault in terms of importation, he said, while asking the government to create a level-playing ground for all players in the industry.

“The intention of PZ Wilmar is to bring back the glory of Nigeria in palm oil. We refine it and package it here. With these products, Nigerian consumers now have access to world-class quality products,” he said.

The firm has also joined the league of global multinationals to obtain international certification, having been awarded ISO 22000:2005 by Bureau Veritas, world leader in testing, inspection and certification.

According to Pillai, the firm applied for the certification in October 2014, and obtained it in February 2015 owing to its belief in high quality standards.

This makes PZ Wilmar the first oil palm processing, packaging and distribution company in Nigeria to have started and completed the certification process without extension from parent company.

The firm was awarded the certification on the basis of food safety of all its products made from world-class refinery and adequate quality control, quality assurance and food safety.

Presenting the certificate to PZ Wilmar on Tuesday in Lagos, Adenike Akinbote, systems certification manager, Bureau Veritas, said PZ Wilmar passed through the rigorous processes before certification because it was clear from the first stage that the palm oil packager was ready and fulfilled all the conditions.

“Once you are not qualified, it would have been difficult for you to fill out the form in the first stage. It was clear at the first stage, including the second stage involving audit and documentation review, that PZ Wilmar was ready,” she said.

She advised the firm to maintain the certification as it could be withdrawn or suspended. Wilmar produces Mamador and Devon Kings vegetable oil.

 

ODINAKA ANUDU