Bakeries from across the country are being urged to ‘raise their game,’ in anticipation of what is likely to be a groundswell of potential competition, as Guyana’s economy shifts into oil & gas mode.
On Friday September 6th, Managing Director of the National Milling Company (NAMILCO) Bert Sukhai told a gathering of bakers and other industry officials that it was important that the sector ‘change gears’ to take account of what lies ahead for business in Guyana as a whole.
“We are aware of larger bakeries that are looking to enter Guyana and we should all be on guard and be able to find a niche in the market in order to remain in business,” adding in a subsequent statement that the remark was not intended “to deter foreign investments,” although he posited that local companies do not wish to be pushed out of business and afterwards have to resort to crying foul.
Before an audience of scores of bakers and other industry officials including officials of the German baking establishment, DeutscheBack GmbH & Co, Sukhai said that the local bakery sector must begin to prepare itself now for the imminent changes in the country’s economic environment. A key element of that change, Sukhai said, would have to be local bakeries “repositioning their businesses to offer products that cater to the tastes of an expanded clientele.”
NAMILCO is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and is seizing the opportunity to further raise awareness of the contribution that it seeks to make to the local baking industry and last Friday, the Director used his address to lay down ‘markers’ which he urged bakers to embrace as benchmarks for improving the quality of the service that they provide. Specifically, he urged local bakeries to increase the variety of their products beyond the traditional baked goods in order to create enhanced consumer interest in the industry. He urged as well that in the process of seeking consumer recognition, local bakeries take initiatives to secure “international certification” since, he contended, “consumers would prefer to buy from someone who has a certification and who takes food safety seriously.” Bakers were also urged to observe good manufacturing practices and to secure and study the country’s Food Safety Act to determine “how it affects your business and [to] practice compliance since local regulatory agencies will, in the future, be more likely to pay attention to compliance and enforcement considerations.” The audience was also advised by Sukhai that local bakeries will also have to focus on a heightened level of image-management by stepping up both the volume and the creativity of their marketing. Reaching international standards, he said, also involves bakers’ learning to differentiate their products. “This may seem difficult as you may wish to think bread is bread. However differentiation creates value, builds brand loyalty, makes competition irrelevant, gets you noticed, gives the consumer a reason to buy and generates good word-of-mouth which money can’t buy.”
NAMILCO is partnering with DeutscheBack to support local bakeries in helping to make prudent product choices for their production operations.
