Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN), a Nigerian conglomerate, is aggressively pushing its brands further into the market by boosting logistics for partners and distributors.
Logistics has become a critical element for manufacturers, with increased competition and higher market share becoming success factors.
Many manufacturers like FMN spend 20 to 30 percent of their expenditure on logistics as the country grapples with absence of good road network and light rails needed to support movement of goods and persons.
FMN, a market leader in food and allied industries, recently rewarded top- performing distributors in the food segment with 11 trucks to enable them meet logistics needs and capture more customers.
The company said it rewards distributors every financial year based on their performances and supports them to expand operations and boost product penetration.
Devlin Hainsworth, managing director, Foods, said the gesture was targeted at fulfilling FMN’s vision of feeding the nation every day.
“We are here today to make good of our promise that we made in June 2019. For nearly 60 years, we have been in partnership with you to feeding and nourishing the nation everyday with our products,” he said.
“And the success we have had in taking our products to the nation is based on the partnership we are enjoying with you,” he said.
Hainsworth said he was excited that the vehicles were going to work in the distributors’ businesses.
“I am excited that the vehicles are going to work in achieving more in terms of realising the opportunities that is out there for our brands and your businesses,” he said, while addressing the distributors.
Amongst the distributors that were rewarded were: Oluwasesan Sose, chief executive of Oluwasesan Sose Investment & Property Limited; Murtala Abdullahi, chief executive of Muabsa Integreted Services; Modinat Sanusi, CEO of Opeyemi Baking Industry, and Dosunmu Fumilayo of DMF Foods Multiventures, among others.
Paul Udochi, head of sales, B2B, said last year, the company gave 17 trucks to its topmost distributors, disclosing that there were still additional five trucks to be given out soon.
Modinat Sanusi, CEO, Opeyemi Baking Industry, said FMN’s truck would help grow margins and scale his operations.
“I am excited about this because this will help ensure effective re-distribution of Golden Penny products which will translate into higher volume of sales and returns for my company. We appreciate FMN for this and hope for bigger and better ones,” he said.
FMN is a Nigerian agribusiness company founded in 1960 by George S. Coumantaros as a private limited company and in 1978 became a public company, with its shares listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange
In November, FMN, through the ‘Feed Your Love’ campaign, rewarded couples who entered the campaign by submitting a short video message, disclosing why they loved Golden Penny.
Several entries were received, but only seven of these entries were adjudged winners after their posts received the highest interactions. The seven couples from the first round then had to post a second set of videos after their weddings. The couples whose video got the most interaction after this process was later selected as winners of the grand prize of an all-expense-paid honeymoon to Dubai.
David Olaleye and his wife, Enitan, won the prize of an all-expense paid honeymoon to Dubai.
In 2018, FMN gave out trucks to distributors in a strategic move to motivate and enable them grow their businesses.
Paul Gbededo, group managing director, Flour Mills of Nigeria, had said the recognition and support meant the company was helping to boost the businesses of its partners, dealers and customers. “Once they grow, you can be sure FMN will continue to grow,” Gbededo had said.
Adding, he said, “ FMN is fulfilling a promise it made to various categories of customers earlier in the year that it would provide them with vans to support their businesses to enable them take goods from its factories to their warehouses and from warehouses to the retailers.
“This is just the start. In years to come, we are going to be doing it in tranches so that we will be seen to be feeding the nation every day.”
BUNMI BAILEY
