Yemisi Izuora
Friska Farms Limited, a leading producer of wellness teas and infant cereals, has opened its production factory, in a bid to meet Africa and Nigeria’s growing demand for quality, healthy and affordable locally-made and nutrient rich food products.
The new Friska factory, which is located in Ayegbami, Ibeju Lekki area of Lagos state, was officially commissioned on Thursday, August 5, 2021, during a ceremony that had in attendance community leaders and stakeholders such as the Chairman of the LCDA Alhaji Lukman Balogun, the Oloye of Ayegbami Community High Chief Shasore and representatives from banks and select horizontal channel management professionals.
Income variability and the renewed appetite for a good diet amid the current global health crisis have stimulated a wider demand for healthy foods among local households. The sprawling demand for health foods is further driving up investment at the production level of the value chain. The new Friska Farms Limited expansive factory line is positioned to enable local consumers access affordable, nutritious health foods such as the Friska brands of wellness teas and baby cereals. This scaled investment is expected to have a wider positive impact on the wellbeing of the teeming national population.
While delivering a short speech during the launch ceremony, Usman Imanah, the Chief Executive Officer, Friska Farms Limited, said, “Success for us goes beyond profit making, success is being able to fill a need and impact the lives of the people around you. For us, it is about building a sustainable business that serves a higher need. And to do this, we realized that we will have had to review our positioning. We had always championed health and wellness through natural nutrition but recently, we have had to incorporate affordable to the mix. We want to serve a larger part of the society that have been underserved. We currently have 6 products within 2 categories but with the launch of the factory, we will be rolling out about 9 more products this year”
According to Mrs Abimbola Muyide-Olukoya, a nutritionist and representative of the Lagos Food Bank Initiative at the event, “We can testify to the efficacy of Friska products. The company has been very supportive of our Nutritional Program for malnourished children. In the last four months, they have consistently seen significant improvement from children placed on the baby cereal and also on patients placed on the anti-diabetic tea. We believe that this factory will accelerate the growth of the business and will ultimately be beneficial to the nation.”
The CEO, Usman Imanah recounted that Friska Farms Limited started in a room from their 3-bedroom apartment; explaining that through a dint of hard work, a commitment to excellence and consumer-centred product research and development strategies and an inclusive product pricing framework, the business has expanded into a multi-million-naira behemoth that keeps delighting dealers, distributors and end consumers. He mentioned as well that recent product launch and modification efforts carried out in the infant food segment by the firm was strategically targeted at repositioning the segment brand products to meet growing market aspirations in line with prevailing socio-economic realities.
Usman Imanah expantiated that Friska Farms Limited has been actively engaged in enriching the standard of lives of the peoples in its host communities. He cited the construction of valuable social amenities such as borehole facilities in the current host community to deliver clean, safe drinkable water for the consumption of residents as part of the company’s corporate social responsibility.