A local food processing company has invested 350 million Br to expand a flour processing, pasta and biscuit manufacturing plant in Adama, Oromia Regional State. Set to be built on 20,000Sqm of land, the plant will have the capacity to process 2,440ql of flour and 250ql of macaroni a day.

The biscuit production line, which is going to join the 45 biscuit factories registered by the Food, Beverage & Pharmaceutical Industry Development Institute, is under construction for 150 million Br.

The domestic production of biscuits in the last fiscal year reached an estimated 193,773tn, according to data from the Central Statistical Agency. In the previous fiscal year, the nation imported 1,762tn of biscuits, according to the Ministry of Revenues. Ethiopia has an estimated production capacity of over 2.5 million quintals of biscuits a year.

Established in 2014, Kiya has already completed the construction of the civil work of a plant to process pasta and biscuits. It is currently waiting for foreign currency to procure the machinery. The flour processing line is expected to be operational in a month and a half, while the biscuit production line is waiting for machinery to be imported. The two plants are expected to create jobs for 300 people.

High levels of wheat production in the Regional State has triggered the company to invest in flour, macaroni and biscuit production, according to Elias Masresha, general manager of Kiya Food Complex, which operates under the decade-old company, Sororo General Trading, which also owns Sororo Tour & Travel.

Last month, the company faced a challenge due to the shortage of supplies, wheat price inflation and the liquidity crisis. The Ethiopian Industrial Inputs Development Enterprise has supplied the company with 66,000ql of wheat worth 102 million Br.