How FMN is feeding and enriching lives, every day

A brand is a promise kept consistently over a period of time. Every brand has a promise it makes to its customers or consumers, and to keep this promise is to keep customers’ trust and engender loyalty, a combination essential for business longevity. It is on this premise that sustainable businesses are built as they continue to progressively deliver on their premises without compromising on quality and value. In Nigeria, there are noteworthy businesses and organisations that have distinguished themselves as viable brands by faithfully delivering on their promises, but one organisation stands out amongst them all.

Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (FMN) has been an invaluable growth partner with Nigeria since its inception on 29th September, 1960 just 2 days before Nigeria’s Independence. FMN is primarily a food company with interest in food processing and agro allied businesses across five key value chains comprising Grains, Sweeteners, Oil and Fats, Starches, and Animal feeds & Protein. The Group has successfully moved from a single flour milling company to a Group of about 22 subsidiaries with footprints across the 36 states of Nigeria and a Pan-African vision.

As owner of the iconic Golden Penny Food brand, FMN remains one of Africa’s leading food and agro-allied companies. With a broad basket of food products and robust pan-Nigerian production, distribution, and supply chain network, FMN is a fully integrated and diversified food and agro-allied group. For over six decades, the Group has been a source of livelihood for millions of Nigerian Families.

Through its avant garde production and supply chain channels, FMN has been providing Nigerians with a superior quality product for over six decades ranging from diverse flour brands, ball foods (Semovita), pasta, noodles, sweeteners, edible oil, and fats,spread,breakfast cereal and other quality and nutritional food. Through the years, the Group has demonstrated market responsiveness to the varying nutritional and economic needs of Nigerians. It takes seriously the saying that “Quality is an invaluable culture”.

This is evident in the Group’s rich product portfolio, underscoring the brand’s understanding of the Nigerian taste and dietary requirements. FMN has continued to offer top-of-the-line products from recent product innovations like the Amaizing Day Breakfast Cereal, with the nutritious blend of maize and other essential vitamins designed to kickstart your day to the finger-licking Chocoh spread and the bold & localized-flavored Hot Hot Jollof noodles and goat meat pepper soup noodles.

FMN is unwaveringly committed to transforming the Food and agricultural sector in Nigeria through local content development and by establishing sustainable food systems. For instance, FMN participated in the National Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) and Backward Integration Plan (BIP) since its inception in 2012 through its subsidiary Golden Sugar Company situated in Sunti, in Niger state. The Group also initiated progressive agricultural interventions towards driving food self-sufficiency in Nigeria and introduced the Outgrower programme – a transformative and innovative agricultural intervention designed for local capacity development. Hundreds of farmers under the out-grower scheme were trained and some were sent to countries like Malawi for further upskilling.

In maize and soybean value chain development, through one of the Group’s subsidiaries, Golden Agri–Inputs Limited (GAIL), in collaboration with West Africa and Investment Hub (WATIH) and USAID, FMN has made remarkable strides in developing local cultivation of maize and soybean. The project was successfully and impactfully executed under the 3rd phase of project YALWA initiative where over 3, 552 smallholder farmers were empowered to cultivate about 3,680 hectares of maize and soybean.

In 2021, the Group started the FMN Prize for Innovation (PFI) initiative to encourage new ideas and innovations in the food and agro-allied sector in Nigeria and across the continent and how these can impact and enable a sustainable food system.The FMN PFI is for SMEs and students across Nigeria who are continuously reinventing food production processes for the Nation’s attainment of self-sufficiency. Emerging data shows that winners of the prize money within the past three years experienced over 100% business growth in terms of scale and demand, a feat that was made possible through the Group’s invaluable support and resources. The FMN Prize for Innovation is arguably Nigeria’s most transformative food innovation initiative that is progressively and impactfully building sustainable food systems in Nigeria by supporting the growth of SMEs within the food and agricultural sector.

The Group has also won both local and international awards for their invaluable contributions in driving food security in Nigeria. In 2024, FMNwas listed as a leading food and agro-allied company by Global Brand Awards, a recognition that distinguished FMN from competitors. The Golden Penny Foods brands also secured multiple recognitions in line with the Group’s commitment to providing consumers with superior quality products for over six decades.

FMN’s expansion beyond Nigeria is underway. Until recently, the Group was a wholly Nigerian company whose international presence was largely expressed in a small export footprint. That footprint has been growing significantly in recent years. However, FMN is now more purposefully taking advantage of the generational opportunity afforded by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to widen and intensify its presence across Africa, beginning with expansion into the West African neighbourhood.

Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (FMN) has been a committed growth partner in Nigeria, and through its transformative business outcomes, the Group has established an invaluable system that has become a source of livelihood for millions of people through direct and indirect employment. FMN is consistently feeding and enriching lives, every day.