NFM scraps 'cheap food' after $4m loss

Published: Friday August 15, 2008

The "cheap food" sales which the National Flour Mills (NFM) began last year will be scrapped.

Recently-appointed NFM chairman Ganesh Sahadeo said yesterday the company lost an estimated $4 million last year as a result of the decision to get involved in the distribution and sale of food items which the company did not traditionally sell.

He made the statement at the National Enterprises Limited annual general meeting yesterday morning, in response to a shareholder who asked him about the status of the company.

The NFM imported lamb, beef and several other meats last year for local distribution and sale, as part of a government-initiated drive to help citizens deal with rising food prices. Earlier this year, the company also held several food sales where citizens purchased cereals, milks and juices at what was termed "competitive prices".

Sahadeo, who was not on the board when the decision to get involved in the "cheap food" venture was made, told the Express that once the goods which are currently in stock are sold out, NFM would be focusing only on its core business of manufacturing and selling flour.

In the meantime, consumers can purchase cartons of juice, tins of milk and boxes of cereal at the NFM warehouse in Port of Spain while stocks last. Sahadeo said the company is "hoping to be sold out by September".

While some may see the end of the "cheap food" sales as bad news, Sahadeo also had some good news for consumers.

He told the Express that he does not expect that the price of flour will increase for the remainder of this year. The last increase of about 24 per cent took place last month, resulting in an estimated ten per cent increase of all flour products throughout the country.


Source: Trinidad Express Newspapers
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_business?id=161363952