Tinashe Makichi Business Reporter
Bakers Inn Shepperton Road branch in Southern Harare has met its bread production target of 400 000 loaves of bread per day after the installation of a new plant, a senior company official said. The state of the art bread making plant worth about $22 million, started operating in February this year.
Bakers Inn Bread general manager Mr David Muchinguri said total production has since increased by 60 percent from 250 000 loaves per day recorded in the period prior to the commissioning of the plant to 400 000 loaves per day while the company now has 40 percent market share.
He, however, bemoaned the decline in demand for bread in the country.
“We have invested in new technology and this will significantly improve capacity, range and quality of operations for confectionery products.
“The issue of demand has however been a challenge due to lack of disposable income among consumers as well as the mushrooming of different players in the industry,” said Mr Muchinguri.
Innscor has always expressed its intentions to commit resources towards expansion. The group intends to install eight new lines by 2015 to increase Baker’s Inn total capacity to 1 million loaves per day by next year.
This will make the Shepperton plant one of the largest in the world. Mr Muchinguri, however, said there will be no investment in huge projects this year.