Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, makers of Golden Penny products, has announced the setting up of a food research centre at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State.
The Flour Mills Food Research Centre, according to a statement by the firm, is the first of its kind in any Nigerian university and is a partnership between the firm and the nation’s premier university.
Under the first phase, Flour Mills will provide an initial N30m for the procurement of equipment and running of the centre during the first three years, while the university will provide a building housing two laboratories for pilot plant studies and research in food product development.
Speaking during the turning of the sod of the centre, the Group Managing Director, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, Chief Emmanuel Ukpabi, said the company had only recently reviewed, redefined and articulated its Corporate Social Responsibility policy with a strong focus on environmental sustainability; education, research and skills development; health and welfare; infrastructural development; and security.
This, he said, was in furtherance of Flour Mills’ strong belief that business should be run in a profitable but sustainable and socially responsible manner, creating great value for all stakeholders and giving back to the society.
The objectives of the Flour Mills Food Research Centre, according to Ukpabi, include contributing meaningfully to attaining national food security through research and development; strengthening the weak industry-academia linkages and promoting greater collaboration between the food industry and institutions that offer training in food science and technology in the country.
