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Oliver Kazunga, Senior Business Reporter
BREAD manufacturer, Bakers Inn, will today commission a $5 million production line at its Belmont plant in Bulawayo.

The coming on line of the new production line will see the Bulawayo factory increasing its output to 220 000 loaves a day up from 120 000.

In September 2016, Bakers Inn — a division of Innscor Africa — announced its intent to increase its market share to at least 55 percent within 12 months.

Before the installation of the new production line, Bakers Inn Bulawayo was operating with two production lines.

Bakers Inn general manager Mr Felix Vazhure could not be reached for comment yesterday as he was said to be in a meeting by the time of going to print.

The bread manufacturer is improving production capacity at the Bulawayo factory in order to match demand in the southern parts of the country.

Due to failure to meet market demand in the southern region, the Bulawayo factory received an additional 40 000 loaves daily from Harare resulting in Bakers Inn supplying a total of 160 000 loaves to the southern region market.

The commissioning of a third production line whose installation started towards the end of April will see the Bulawayo factory being able to efficiently supply the southern region market.

Bakers Inn Bulawayo factory supplies the city, the Midlands, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South and Masvingo provinces as well as the Eastern low-veld in Chiredzi.

As a result of the coming on board of the third production line at Bakers Inn, additional 200 jobs were created indirectly.

Before the commissioning of the latest plant, the bakery’s production side alone employed about 135 people.

The country’s leading bakery has of late invested in plant upgrade and maintenance as it targets to increase its domestic market share from 45 percent to 50 percent.

Last year, Bakers Inn commissioned a pie manufacturing plant after having invested $8 million on the factory that is producing 200 000 pies a day.

During the same period, the company spent about $7 million upgrading its fleet of delivery trucks to ensure it has a sound distribution network. — @okazunga.