NATIONAL FLOUR MILLS (NFM) has come a long way since its beginnings in 1966.

Back then it was called Trinidad Flour Mills. It had a staff of 28 people and provided one product, flour, to Trinidad and Tobago.

Now, some 58 years later, NFM is not only a national institution that provides flour, feed, dry mix products, pet food, oil and a range of ginger teas, but it also has expanded to serve the region and several parts of the world.

NFM, now 400 workers strong, exports to Barbados, Jamaica, St Lucia, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Dominica and parts of the Bahamas.

Speaking with Business Day on March 19, NFM chairman Ashmeer Mohammed said the company plans to rise to even higher standards with a drive to continue its product innovation and improve efficiency by updating its machinery and investing in its people.

Innovations to benefit customers

Mohammed said, "We see ourselves continuing to be a major producer. We are going to keep adding lines and innovating on products and adding value."

He said through its dry mix segment, NFM has been able to innovate on traditional recipes to manufacture on a commercial scale and market it to customers at competitive prices.

Products such as the pholourie mix, the fry bake mix, cassava flour and cake flour are some of the innovations that have gained popularity in TT and the region.

"It makes life easy for consumers," he said. "You just add water.

"We specialise in products that give the consumer better, more nutritional value and we do it at a commercial rate, so the prices are very reasonable."

The dry mixes were commended on March 18 at the launch of NFM's two newest improvements – the installation of a two-kilogramme flour packaging line and a standing pack packaging line – which came at a cost of $25.6 million.

An additional line for ten-kilogramme packages is expected to be installed by the end of May.

[caption id="attachment_1145072" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Minister of Trade Paula Gopee-Scoon, centre, starts the machine that packs the IBIS Flour, while Minister in Ministry of National Security Keith Scotland looks on at NFM's packing and manufacturing facility on Wrightson Rd, Port of Spain, on March 18 - Photo by Jeff K Mayers[/caption]

CEO Ian Mitchell in his remarks at the launch of the lines said the dry mix category was one of NFM’s fastest-growing lines.

"Customers seek greater convenience whether at home or in the commercial bakeries and the prepared mixes, baking powders and other dry mix products have become essential staples for many," he said.

The packaging for many of its products is an innovation in itself, Mohammed told Business Day.

"With the pouch packaging that we are producing, especially the baking powder and icing sugar and other products, the pouch is resealable.

"When you open a bag of baking powder you would have had to store it in a container. Now you are getting a pouch that you can reuse and seal it.

"So we are helping consumers get their products straight to the table."

Mohammed said