Sona Malting And Derivatives is one of the largest and most modern Sorghum malting plants in Africa.
It is one of the principal industrial units in Sona Group, Nigeria conglomerate. Sona Malting And Derivatives has with capabilities to process raw Sorghum into Sorghum malt and malt derivatives. We produce a vast range of quality products including: quality malted sorghum, malt extract, maltose syrup, glucose syrup etc. The products are key inputs in breweries, biscuits manufacturers, confectionery companies as well as other food and beverage industries.
Our commitment to customer-satisfaction is manifest in our adoption of the latest technology in malting which has earned us recognition as a leader in the industry within short period of going into production. Adherence to strict quality control and continued development propelled us to receiving the ISO 9001:2008 Certification in 2010, ISO 22000:2005 in 2014, SEDEX AB in 2011 and FSSC 22000 by Bureau Veritas in May, 2018.
7 Years of Experience
Incorporated in 2001, Sona Malting And Derivatives also known as ‘Sona and Malt’ is the pioneer Sorghum malting & malt extract plant in Nigeria. Steeped in the great quality tradition of Sona Group, heavy investment was made in acquiring latest technology, best-in-class equipment, automation, qualified manpower and state-of-the-art laboratory. A 50-ton per day capacity malting plant imported from Belgium, commenced production in 2007.
Stringent quality controls, selection of best raw materials, modern equipment, reliable utilities, and experienced staff ensure we deliver the best quality to the satisfaction and admiration of our customers; part of the reason for the speedy approval by the certifying agencies within the shortest possible time.
Before 1987, the brewery industry in Nigeria was importing Barley and Barley malts, spending a huge amount of foreign exchange year after year without recourse to substitution with locally produced resources. Research carried out by food scientists in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya among other countries however established that raw Sorghum and Sorghum malt was a good, if not better, replacement for Barley.
The Federal Government of Nigeria therefore banned of importation of Barley and Barley malts in 1987 to save foreign exchange. This singular act of sheer patriotism provided the needed impetus for the development of Sorghum production and malting in Nigeria. Sorghum is abundantly grown over a wide semi-arid region of Nigeria. It surpasses all other cereals, but its industrial use is less than 10% of annual production.
Following the ban on importation of Barley and Barley malt, improvised Sorghum malting plants sprang up to meet the demand for breweries mainly. Most of them did not have the equipment, facilities and infrastructure, to meet FDA processing/sanitary requirements, to process raw Sorghum into products, like malts and extracts.
Visionary entrepreneur, Mr. A.K. Mirchandani, the Chairman of Sona Group, envisaged the huge potential for malting industry in Nigeria and the economic development cycle it could trigger from augmenting national cereal output, to revamping rural economy, to job creation and to saving of foreign exchange. He planned the establishment of a modern malting plant to produce malted Sorghum and malt derivatives like malt extract, malt syrup, glucose etc to meet the requirement of not only the breweries but also other companies engaged in production of energy foods and beverages, weaning formulae, confectioneries, pharmaceuticals etc.
The fruit of his vision is Food, Agro & Allied Industries Limited, a modern 100 MT per day Sorghum malting plant and 75 MT per day state-of-the-art malt extract plant.
Food & Agro is a unique industry in Nigeria, working with 100% local raw materials. Thousands of families all over the country are now directly or indirectly involved in economic activities in Sorghum production to finished products.
Our company goal is to use 100% local resources and process into high-value end-products adopting the latest technology and standards. We have made an investment of N6 billion pumped in to expand our Sorghum malting capacity to 100 MT per day and to install a 33,000MT/annum malt extract. This state-of-the-art, fully automated plant started production from March 2015. A unique & versatile plant that produces malt extract, Sorghum brewing extract, Maltose & Glucose syrup, using different combination of raw materials like raw & malted Sorghum, Corn grist, purified cassava starch, raw and malted barley etc.
Sorghum brewing extract produced in the plant got certification from laboratories in Europe (VLB Germany & CamdenBRI UK) before acceptance as a brewing ingredient by Guinness Nig Plc and SabMiller Nig Plc.
Equipment for another 30,000 ton per annum Sorghum malting plant and 20,000-ton grain storage facility is on ground. Model farms to showcase farming technology to farmers for better techniques, better yield and quality seed multiplication and backward expansion in Sorghum growing region are all part of our over-all vision.
Food & Agro also plans to expand grain storage capacity to 150,000MT to help government effort to strengthen strategic grains reserves.
A 60-ton per day pilot plant for producing Sorghum flour is already ordered and expected to go into full production by May 2017. Once successful, Sorghum flour will reduce imported wheat flour to large extent and save Nigeria critical foreign exchange.