Chief Executive Officer, Roopnarine Bert Sukhai and Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy Terry Steers-Gonzalez during the celebratory event
The National Milling Company of Guyana (NAMILCO) on Thursday evening celebrated 50 years since its establishment, providing quality flour and other variants to the Caribbean market, while renewing its commitment to continue operations in Guyana.
The event was hosted at the Marriott Hotel as a way of thanking partners and customers for their continued support. Established on May 17, 1969, by its parent company, Seaboard, the milling company has created products to meet expectations and has managed to maintain ISO 9001 certification.
Chief Executive Officer, Roopnarine Bert Sukhai gave a history of their progress which resulted in a wide variety of new products. From just wheat flour, the company has grown to produce other flour-based items that are easy to prepare. He posited that they are positively looking forward to the prospects of the future.
“Our department will continue to recommend new products and we will strive to ensure that all lovers of flour products are extremely satisfied with what we will be offering…We have prepared and will continue to prepare to be around for another 50 years,” the CEO said.
He added, “Over the years, we moved from making two types of flour to many different types. We catered for the large companies such as Banks (DIH) for biscuits and bread, Beharry for chowmein, the many large and small bakeries for pastries and other products; the home bakers by providing a variety of flour such as multi-grain, whole-wheat, vanilla flavoured cake flour, pholourie mix, roti mix and the list goes on”.
His remarks were followed by Vice President of Seaboard, Ralph Moss, who stated that this successful tenure will continue in Guyana with affordable services to all Guyanese.
“We have made additional investments, other than international milling here in Guyana and we will continue to seek new investments. With our expertise, we can bring needed skills, needed technology, and needed resources to your country.”
Meanwhile, Business Minister, Haimraj Rajkumar gave credit for these successes to the strong collaboration between the public and private sectors.
“Companies such as NAMILCO continue to make valuable contributions outside of their private business. Fifty years is certainly a long time to be involved in doing business in or country. Given the many uncertainties and uncontrollable situations that arises, it is the ultimate test of longevity when a company can be in operation for such a long time and still manage to hold its own in becoming a mainstay in the business community,” the Minister expressed.
Presently, the company also supplies establishments such as KFC and the Suriname and Guyana franchise of Pizza Hut. It was also mentioned that their production is critical to ensuring that farmers are provided with bran. Presently, the production rate is 240 metric tonnes daily.
