NIGERIA – Mayor Biscuits Company Limited (MABISCO), a biscuit manufacturing company in Nigeria, has officially announced the shutdown of its operations and the intention to sell its biscuit production facility.
The decision was shared in a statement signed by Mr Segun Matthew, the Finance Director of the company, and revealed to the media in Lagos.
The company’s announcement outlined two sales options: the sale of the entire plant or the sale of individual machines.
“We want to sell MABISCO because we want to concentrate on our area of core competence of business. To achieve that, we have to divest appropriately,” Mr Matthew, the Finance Director stated.
Before its closure, in March 2023, MABISCO had faced challenges, including worker protests over daily pay issues.
The decision to sell the plant comes as part of a strategic shift to focus on its core business competencies, paving the way for new opportunities in a different sector.
Established in 2016, MABISCO was known for its state-of-the-art biscuits manufacturing technologies, boasting a total production capacity of 3.5 tonnes per hour.
The plant had access to the Shell LNG Gas terminal and featured high-speed packing machines with a capacity to handle 350 packs per minute, emphasizing its commitment to efficiency.
Situated in the Agbara Industrial Zone in Ogun State, MABISCO’s factory occupied a substantial land area of 73,732.391 square meters.
The company had built a network of over 300 distributors nationwide within seven years of its operation.
In this period, MABISCO had successfully captured a 5% market share in the Nigerian biscuits market, with a strong presence in the northern, western, and eastern regions of the country.
Meanwhile, many manufacturing companies have halted their operations in Nigeria in the last 10 years over worsening macroeconomic challenges.
Lingering foreign exchange scarcity, poor power supply, port congestion, multiple taxation, insecurity, and poor infrastructure, among others, have taken a toll on many businesses in the country.
High energy costs, a slowdown in industrial output, and a sluggish demand for products are also among the issues debilitating manufacturing activities in Nigeria.
