Prior to the incorporation of National Milling Company of Guyana Inc. (Namilco), a subsidiary of Seaboard Corporation of USA, Guyana imported flour from various suppliers. Seaboard Corporation based in Shawnee Mission, Kansas City, USA saw an opportunity to set up a flour mill in Guyana and negotiated with the Government in 1967 to make this a reality. The land was purchased in 1967 in Agricola and construction by Taylor Woodrow and Associates and Ocrim of Italy was completed in 1969. Namilco was officially opened on May 17, 1969 by the then Prime Minister Forbes Burnham.

The mill was established with a capacity to produce 3,300 one hundred-pound sacks per twenty four-hour period and 45 workers were hired. As demand for the product increased, employment opportunity for Guyanese expanded and we were the first manufacturing enterprise in Guyana to operate twenty-four hours. The milling equipment was imported from Italy and the electrical and storage bins came from the United States.

Namilco operated a successful business importing wheat from the USA and milling it in Guyana throughout the 1970s. However in 1982 the Government in power banned flour, among other food items, because of a decline in the economy. A thriving underground economy and runaway inflation resulted as business people procured foreign exchange on the black-market and smuggled products into Guyana. Customs and Police targeted flour for seizures as consumers defied the ban. Namilco was asked to make rice flour which was intended as a substitute for wheaten flour but this failed since rice lacked the gluten vital to bread making.

The ban on flour was lifted in 1986 and Namilco, which had maintained a skeleton staff during the 4-½ years, immediately commenced the refurbishing of the mill. The Government of Guyana negotiated with the USDA to obtain wheat under the Public Law No. 480 and an agreement was reached in 1986. In August 1986 Namilco resumed production of flour. A levy was introduced by the Government which was meant for the development of the Agriculture Sector and the Government through various distributors controlled flour sales. Later, with the opening of the economy under the ERP initiative, the levy was dropped and the mill was allowed to sell flour directly to the public.

Namilco operated successfully with wheat provided under the PL 480 Title 1 and Title 3 programs. Under these programs the US Government through the USDA provided the wheat to the Government of Guyana. Namilco purchased that wheat at market prices from the Guyana Government and milled it into flour. Commercial wheat purchased by Namilco from the USA was sometimes imported to supplement any shortfall in the yearly PL 480 allocation. In 1999, The US Government decided to donate wheat under a different program termed Section 416 (b). This wheat is donated to the Guyana Government and Namilco purchases this wheat at market price from the Government.

Consumers are becoming more conscious of what they eat and we decided in 1998 to produce smaller packaged premium products. Our studies have found that consumers were not always getting a wholesome product packaged in brown paper and plastic bags. This created a market for Robin Hood and other brands of flours to be smuggled into the country since some consumers preferred a factory-sealed package.

In December 1998 we commenced packaging of the long awaited Maid Marian Roti Mix in an attractive two-pound package and subsequently produced a Maid Marian Self Rising Flour also in a two-pound package. We then targeted the health conscious consumers and came out with the much-requested Harvest High Fibre flour and a Wheat-Up breakfast porridge. These products have been well received by consumers and we are having a difficulty keeping up with demand since only limited amounts of these products can be manufactured.

The production of these small packages brought requests for our flagship Thunderbolt flour to be packaged in half(1/2), one(1) and two(2) kilogram sizes. The acceptance of this smaller packaging was overwhelming and we have acquired a state of the art packaging and mixing machine capable of packaging 60 packets a minute. This was commissioned in December 1999 and shopkeepers are now demanding this product over the one hundred pound bags.

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• National Milling Company of Guyana is dedicated to achieving industry leadership through excellence in product quality and customer service.
• Our mission is to satisfy our customers' needs with technological developments and continuous improvement in manufacturing processes.
• We will only produce products that are friendly to the environment.
• We are committed to maintain consistent growth and to earn a reasonable return on our investment.

• The success of NAMILCO depends on the quality and commitment of our people. "We are a team"
• We will treat all persons with respect and dignity regardless of position. We will give accurate, useful and non-judgmental feedback on performance and will reward people on the basis of results and assist them in their desire to grow professionally.
• We will seek mutually beneficial relationship with our customers and suppliers.
• We are committed to providing a safe working environment for our employees. Use of drug, alcohol, or other behaviours, which detract from job safety or job performance, will not be tolerated.
• We will keep our management structure, decision guidelines and corporate policies simple.
• We will agree upon precise, clear goals for each department which will lead to the accomplishment of our mission.
• We will be good corporate citizens of our industry and our community, and we will obey the laws of our government.