Master bakers plan workshop at 2015 Foodbext West Africa expo

Over 5000 members of Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria, Lagos chapter, who are owners of bakeries, catering services and private confectionery labels will be at the fourth edition of Foodbext West Africa exhibition.

These master bakers and caterers will feature various workshops geared towards skills acquisition and showcasing of the innovative food products they have in the country.

According to Jacob Adejorin, chairman of the association, the idea of partnership with Foodbext after three very successful editions and the workshop, is to avail members a chance to network with suppliers and also exchange knowledge with various distributors with a view to attaining higher levels of business practice.

He confirmed that in the previous editions, more than 100 members of the association attended and everyone was quite delighted at the level of event delivery, while commending the organisers for a job well done. He spoke when the organisers paid the association a courtesy visit, during which he used the opportunity to throw more light on the activities of the association and to see areas where supports and assistance were necessary for practitioners.

The Association of Master Bakers represents an aggregation of enterprises who are key contributors to the nutritional health of the country, as bread and other confectioners are major staples, he stated. Speaking further, he stated that members are eager to boost business activities and they are often in need of finance for working capital and the acquisition of modern equipment and skills.

“Fooodbext West Africa has continued to tower high and do well as the best food/beverage exhibition, and as the essential platform for the promotion of food/beverage businesses in Nigeria with several buyers from neighbouring West African countries fully queued in as a way of encouraging cross- border trade along the West African regional trade block,” Dayo Olufemi, marketing director, 151 Products Limited, organisers of the event, said.

He said Foodbext 2015 would be like none before it, as the emphasis would be on providing a high-level opportunity for companies to engage channel distributors on one hand, and on the other hand to promote brands.

Ajdey Mensa, managing director, Brand Masters Inc., a Ghana- based firm into brand communication services, said “exhibitions have become alternate media with a lot of implication for customer loyalty and market share controls. Organisations must wake up and see to it that credible opportunities to connect with the market, especially at the route to market level, is properly harnnessed, as no one promotional option fits all.”