In a bid to uplift bakery businesses in Nigeria and make it profitable ventures, Bakery Initiatives Group (BIG) of the Netherlands has begun a training and re-training of bakers to acquaint them with the requisite knowledge to run bakeries profitably as well as expose them to international best practices and emerging trends in the industry.
The training programme, which will run in phases, began with a train-the-trainers programme with the objective of not only increasing the theoretical and practical knowledge of participants in the bakery and confectionery industry, but also equip them to be able to transfer such knowledge to others, thereby creating a large pool of knowledgeable people in this field in Nigeria.
According to Ephraim Mbanaso, the country representative/CEO of Bakery Initiatives Nigeria, the training is in line with the company’s philosophy that identifies well-trained and grounded people as one of the essential pillars for the success of any bakery business.
“It is our hope that after passing through this training, you all will become change agents in ensuring that the bakery businesses you get involved in become successful,” Mbanaso told the participants at the brief opening ceremony before the commencement of the first phase of the training.
The training programme, which is taking place at Araba’s Homemade, 16 Thurbon Street, Yaba, started on Monday, June 25, 2018, and will cover such areas as technology and practice of baking of bread, cakes and pastries with special emphasis on recipes, effects of basic ingredients, cost calculations among others.
The BIG is a global bakery consultancy group offering turnkey solutions for new bakeries and improving the performance of existing ones. The company started in the Netherlands way back in 1984 and has grown to become a leading global solution provider in the bakery industry.
It has established regional joint ventures in Nigeria, Egypt, Iran and continuously expanding across the globe in its bid to position itself as a solution provider in the bakery industry.
According to Bakery Initiatives’ Master Baker and Trainer, Jan Bosch, the participants were screened and carefully selected from among many people that applied for the program and it is expected that at the end, they will all become skilled professionals able to employ the knowledge acquired not only to manage bakeries profitably but also impart the knowledge to others.
