BUA Foods signs deal with Italian firm to increase pasta production capacity to 900k MTpa

BUA Foods Plc has penned a capacity expansion deal with Italian company, FAVA to increase its pasta production capacity from 400,000 tonnes to 900,000 tonnes yearly.  

The company announced this in a statement on the NGX signed by its Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications, Adewunmi Desalu.  

According to the statement, the expansion will include the addition of nine lines of long-cut pasta which will increase the company’s pasta production by 400,000 metric tonnes per annum.  

The company also noted that another deal was signed with an Italian company to supply packaging equipment to BUA Foods Plc.  

The statement reads, “In line with its strategic roadmap, and unwavering commitment towards contributing to food security in Nigeria, BUA Foods Plc (BUA Foods or the Company) has announced a planned significant expansion of its pasta production facility after signing an agreement with FAVA (Italy), one of the world’s leading pasta equipment manufacturing companies.” 

“The new project, which serves as one of several efforts aimed at mitigating food supply challenges in the country, will result in the addition of nine (9) lines of long-cut pasta (6,000 kgs/hr) thereby increasing the company’s annual production capacity by 400,000Tonnes to 900,000MTpa, making it one of the leading pasta producers in Africa. To support the expansion project, a complimentary agreement was also signed with Martini (Italy) to supply packaging equipment.” 

Furthermore, the company noted that it also signed a deal with a Turkish firm to increase BUA Food’s grain storage capacity to 100,000 tonnes.  

BUA Foods’ Chairman, Abdul Samad Rabiu, CFR, CON, stated that the company’s manufacturing capacity expansion would enable them to extend their production capabilities and contribute to addressing ongoing food shortages in the country.  

He added that, in addition to increasing pasta production, the company would introduce innovations to support mixed volume growth while maintaining the high product quality their customers expect. 

What you should know

BUA Foods Plc in the past few months has engaged in a slew of strategic expansion activities in wheat processing and pasta production. The expansion of this pasta facility follows an earlier report by Nairametrics of the company’s agreement in August with IMAS- a Turkish flour milling equipment manufacturer, to construct four state-of-the-art wheat and flour milling factories. This project will increase the company’s milling capacity to 2.5 million metric tons per annum (MTpa). 

The expansion projects by BUA Foods Plc are set to make the pasta production market more competitive with large players like Flourmills Nigeria Plc and Dangote Foods all vying for market share.