NIGERIA – UAC Restaurants Limited, subsidiary of UAC of Nigeria Plc, a leading diversified company operating in the food & beverage, animal feed and Quick Service Restaurant sector, has opened a state-of-the-art bread bakery in Amuwo Odofin, local government area of Lagos State.
The launch of the new outlet was done in collaboration with CEESAM International Limited, a UAC Restaurants’ franchisee.
It is aimed to expand the company’s retail segment and readily avail its Mr Bigg’s Family bread nearer to consumers.
The outlet will leverage on the traffic from its sister brands i.e., Mr Bigg’s restaurant and Debonairs Pizza store, which are adjacent to it.
According to repots by The Industry, the bakery is equipped with modern bakery facilities and has the capacity to serve customer from the Festac, Mile 2, Oluti, Amuwo Odofin, Ojo and the environs.
“Bakeries in Benin and Kaduna are already in the pipeline, and more to come in the coming months across key locations in Nigeria.”
Managing Director of UAC Restaurants Limited, Mr. Debola Badejo
Speaking on the importance of bread business to UAC Restaurants Limited, Managing Director of UAC Restaurants Limited, Mr. Debola Badejo said, “We are constantly looking for ways to offer new and affordable products to the market and the Mr Bigg’s family loaf bread, is one of the many new retail offerings that we have in store for Nigerians.”
On the expansion of bread offering across the country, Mr. Badejo stated that this is one of the many bakeries that the company is going to open across Nigeria.
“We have a large bakery in our central kitchen at Oregun that serves Ikeja, Oregun, Ogba, Fagba, Abule Egba, Ojudu, Agege and Ikorodu.
“We also have bakeries in Minna, Asaba, and Port Harcourt, and now, a state-of-the-art bakery in Amuwo Odofin. Bakeries in Benin and Kaduna are already in the pipeline, and more to come in the coming months across key locations in Nigeria,” he indicated.
The reports have indicated that the Mr Bigg’s family loaf has the capacity to contribute about 25% to the business turnover.
“While our traditional Mr Bigg’s and Debonairs Pizza restaurants remain our core businesses, we believe our retail unit has the opportunity to attract wider patronage and ensure Nigerians have access to Mr Bigg’s products outside our restaurants,” said Mr. Debola Badejo, Chairman of CEESAM International Limited.
UAC is expanding in a market segment that has recently been faced with increasing cost of production, from rising prices of the bread making ingredients i.e., flour, sugar and vegetable oil.
To this end, the producers have been forced to increase the price of bread in order to avoid the shutdown of bakeries.
However, the wider Nigerian bakery product market is expected to grow due to the increasing consumption for ready to eat products owing to busy work schedules, rising demand for high-fiber and trans-fat baked products.
As the pioneered QSR in Nigeria expands its offering, the company’s competitor Eat’N’Go limited, recently launched a breakfast menu featuring meat-pies, chicken-pies, small chops, sausage rolls, sausage rolls with cheese, & sausage rolls with BBQ Sauce.
The master franchisee for Domino’s Pizza, Cold Stone Creamery in the country is also boasting of having attained 150 stores in the West African country.
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