Alhaji Sulaimon Adekunle, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Sula Delicious Bread
Alhaji Sulaimon Adekunle, Alakoso Adinni of Igbogbo Central Mosque and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, City Deal and Sula Delicious Bread, is an outstanding community developer, philanthropist and investor with interest in confectionaries, construction and other businesses.
He is also the Treasurer, Igbogbo Day Planning Committee since 2021 and member of the Adeboruwa think-tank.
In this interview with the Publisher/Reporter – in – Chief of THE IMPACT, Kunle Adelabu, which took place at Alhaji Sulaimon Adekunle’s office in Igbogbo, he bore his mind on the crisis facing bread production in Nigeria, Sula bread business philosophy, patronage and plans for expansion among others. Excerpts:
THE IMPACT: Just about a year ago, Sula bread was commissioned and since then, the bread has been circulating all over Igbogbo, Ikorodu Division and beyond, how has it been so far with the bread production?
Alhaji Sulaimon: Bread making is a process. We started around this time last year, but of recent, the situation has been very challenging to the extent that bakers had to embark on strike which of course, it’s a national issue. We started well, and up till now, we still manage to cope despite the challenges posed by high cost of raw materials and others local issues surrounding bread making. When Sula bread started in 2021, the environment was okay in term of procurement of raw materials. Most of these materials cannot be sourced locally. Materials like flour which is made from wheat and you know what is happening between Russia and Ukraine, there is also sugar, milk, butter, vegetable oil and yeast are imported into the country, only vegetable can be sourced locally. However, inspite of these we still manage to cope and survive because bread is staple food just like rice and we are not just operating for profit making, we operate to add value, give our people premium quality and make bread that its quality is unprecedented and our customers can testify to this.
https://www.theimpactnewspaper.com/2022/08/02/sula-bread-sells-as-e-dey-hot-plans-expansion-to-meet-demands/
When we started last year, flour was N17, 500 but now, it’s N28, 500, the difference is over N10, 000 per bag. Sugar was N10, 000 and now N17, 000. Powder milk which is a special product imported from Holland, was previously N66, 000 but now N88, 000. We don’t buy our butter from anyone but directly from the importer because of the volume. The butter was N18, 000 but now, it’s N26, 500.
So far, it has been good and we are determined to stay afloat and in business and also give the community the kind of bread that one can ever think of.
THE IMPACT: How would you describe the level of patronage being enjoyed by Sula bread in the last one year and what is the extent of your coverage areas?
Alhaji Sulaimon: Good thinking, good product and good product sells itself. We started with just a bag of flour which can be produced twice from the machine. The oven will also produce a bag twice in term of output. Because we are offering good products, our bread is being sold even outside Ikorodu and we are getting demands from Maryland and other parts of the state. Our breads are sold at they are coming out of the oven, we call it ‘as e dey hot’ and we really appreciate that people love the bread and they have continued to patronize us. We are determine to give them good products out of good thinking and despite the challenges in procuring raw materials, we are also determined to make use of quality materials that will give us good products. Within the first six months of the commencement of our operations, I discovered that people come as far as Magodo, Alausa and other places to patronize us. They love the bread to the extent that people usually call us on Sundays to ask if they can have our products.
THE IMPACT: As you said that bread is a staple food just like rice which people consume at all times, recently, there has been difficulties in getting bread due to bakers strike. Sir, what are the challenges?
Alhaji Sulaimon: The strike is a combination of several factors, one, you remember that I said that when we started, flour was N16, 500, and now N27, 500. Sugar then was N10, 000 per bag and now N17, 000. They sold butter at the rate of N16, 500 but now N27, 500. We need to let the government know about our plights and see if there is anything they can do to assist bakers in term of ameliorating the effects of tge high cost of raw materials. We believe that government can do something because prices of raw materials have not only double, but we are now experiencing a situation whereby there is increment on weekly basis and I don’t know how best bakers can pass such message to the government than through a strike action. They needed to know that we are not finding it easy to source for raw materials and the prices are going higher on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, we cannot increase prices of bread on a weekly basis. So, if government can look into the issue of raw materials for us, definitely, prices would definitely come down. I can tell you that what we are facing now is not an easy task.
THE IMPACT: Sir, can’t some of these raw materials like sugar, butter and others be sourced locally instead of relying on importation which is affecting our economy adversely and causing hike in the prices of these products?
Alhaji Sulaimon: The basic ones cannot be sourced locally as of now. The people that produce flour cannot do that without wheat and also whatever that affects dollars in the international trade affect the outcome of these prices. In term of butter, we use the one that is very rich and that can sustain the bread for so many days, although, we could think of having the butter locally, but it would not sustain our own bread. If you want to have good bread, you need to have imported butter. Our prayer is that Nigeria would get to the point that our locally made butter would be sufficient and good for bread production, but as it is now, we need to be using imported butter because if not, people would not appreciate the product. Also, we don’t produce sugar in Nigeria, we have sugarcane but yet, we don’t produce sugar in the country (cut in)…
THE IMPACT: Is Dangote and others not producing sugar…(cut in)?
Alhaji Sulaimon: Dangote is not producing sugar, they usually bring in unrefined sugar to be refined and sell to the consumers. Though, the yeast needed in term of quantity is very small, yet we still don’t produce it. The only thing that you can talk about that is available here is water and possibly vegetable oil and these are of low quantity in term of there usage in the production of bread.
THE IMPACT: But some people are of the opinion that bakers are businessmen like others who are also affected by exchange rate and other factors and as a result, they should not go on strike, rather, they should find means of getting necessary raw materials and set their prices to commensurate with their production cost. What would you say to this sir?
Alhaji Sulaimon: For an average businessman, profit making is a priority in order to sustain the business, but ours goes beyond that. We are talking about a community where we reside and operate within. This is our community. Going on strike supposed not be the option, but in a situation whereby we find it difficult to sustain a business, there seems to be no other way out. For instance, when we started producing family loaf of 800gramms, we sold each for N400 and a family loaf of 1300kg called jumbo was N700, but the input that would produce this 1300kg loaf cannot even be gotten at N800. Let say that we now increase that and a week after there is further increment in the raw materials which means high cost of production, are we also going to increase again? It is difficult for us to continue to increase every week as prices of raw materials are increasing. There are so many bakeries that have closed down because they find it difficult to sustain the business due to high cost of raw materials. It is difficult to sustain. We also have to think of depreciation of our machineries, but we cannot change or replace that every day. However, raw materials are ongoing concern and without them, you cannot think of output or production.
THE IMPACT: Considering the importance of bakery and its produce, to the growth of the economy in terms of creation of jobs for both the owners and the citizenry as well as food for the people among others, what are the ways out of these problems?
Alhaji Sulaimon: From my own knowledge as an insider, I don’t know how the federal government would sustain the importation of wheat because only few people are given the license to import wheat into the country and in that regards, those few people could decide to be dictators. It should be liberalise such that those businessmen with capacity should have the option of bringing in wheat that could be transform into flour. That might take care of the challenges with wheat and flour. Also, only few people are licensed to bring in sugar. They call it sugar permit, you can think of Dangote, Bua and one other company. If this one too could be spread beyond two or three importers, it would solve parts of the problems. I believe that the one on sugar is almost general. In fact, what is affecting us here in term of bread making is also affecting them Ghana except in the area of flour. They have flour in their own country and even it is even cheaper than what we are buying in Nigeria. Government should not just leave the importation of these materials in the hands of few businessmen whose top priority is making huge profits. We are looking forward to the resolution of the crisis between Ukraine and Russia too because Ukraine is a master in wheat production. If the war subsided, they would be able to churn out more wheat, but now, they cannot even farm, let alone produce wheat because of the war. So, we don’t even know where we are going on that. We don’t know how far their reserves will take us.
THE IMPACT: How have you been dealing with reactions from your customers since the problem started?
Alhaji Sulaimon: We sympathise with them, but some problems are beyond our own influence and we try to explain these to the best of our abilities regarding the extent that these are affecting our production. Sometimes, we call them to stakeholders’ meeting where we tell them our own forecast and expectations and also let them know that if flour, sugar and other materials are on the high, we may likely increase prices to enable us remain in business. Some of them do reason with us in this regard.
THE IMPACT: Now, with the growing rate of patronage and popularity being enjoyed by Sula bread, is there any plan for expansion in order to cope with the increasing demands from consumers?
Alhaji Sulaimon: Our plans before the fluctuation of prices was that within the first six months of operation, we would open another branch of Sula bread and by a year, we would have two additional bakeries. Right now, we are planning to open a new bakery very close to the Oba Adeboruwa palace in Igbogbo and we are determined to complete it in two months. We hope that we would be able to meet the demands which are more than what we are currently producing. We really appreciate people’s love for our products and we are determined not to disappoint them.
THE IMPACT: Any plan to diversify into other foods….(cut in)?
Alhaji Sulaimon: Yes, we love food industry so much and we are planning to further invest in it. Even in the hierarchy of human needs, food is number one before shelter, security and others. That is why we are determined to add value to the community in terms of production of foods. So, we would likely go into other areas of food production like confectionaries, fast foods and others.
THE IMPACT: Thank you for your time sir.
Alhaji Sulaimon: Thank you very much, I really appreciate.
