Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, makers of Golden Penny products, has announced the setting up of a food research centre known as “Flour Mills Food Research Centre” at the University of Ibadan.

The centre, according to the company, was the first of its kind in any Nigeria’s tertiary institution.

Group Managing Director of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, Dr. Emmanuel Ukpabi, while flagged-off ceremony at the university main campus in Ibadan, said that the partnership was between Flour Mills of Nigeria and University of Ibadan to promote research and development on the study of foods in Nigeria.

He said that the partnership arrangement indicated that during the first phase, his company would provide an initial payment of N30 million, primarily for the procurement of equipment and running of the centre during the first three years, while the university would provide a building housing two laboratories for pilot plant studies and research in food product development.

According to him, Flour Mills had only recently comprehensively 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 Flour Mills Food Research Centre, according to Ukpabi, included contributing meaningfully to attaining national food security through research and development, strengthening the weak industry-academia linkages in Nigeria and promoting greater collaboration between the food industry and institutions that offer training in food science and technology in the country.

The centre to be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities will be available to researchers and students from all over Nigeria and other parts of the world.

In his speech at the ceremony, Flour Mills’ Managing Director, Agro Allied Business, Paul Gbededo, stated that Flour Mills aligned itself completely with Federal Government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda and that the setting up of the Research Centre was therefore, most appropriate.

He added that Flour Mills was pursuing an aggressive investment in agro-allied initiatives, growing palm for its edible oils and fats business, rice for its rice mills, cassava for its high quality cassava flour processing, starch and glucose business and sugar cane for its mill and sugar refinery.