Running a bakery is often compared to running fast food business especially in terms of complying with regulatory requirements. While the regulatory requirements for both ventures might appear similar, there are still requirements peculiar to the bakery business.

To corroborate our findings via desktop research, we reached out Gabriel Olakunke, a FATE Foundation Alumni member who owns and runs Full House Bakeries who provided on the regulatory requirements necessary for starting a bakery business.

The Regulatory Requirements for starting a Bakery business are: –

Licensing/Permits

• Business Registration: The Bakery needs to be registered as a business with the Corporate Affairs Commission (C.A.C).
• Registration with Relevant Association: When planning to venture into this business, you should plan to register with relevant associations such as the Association of Master Bread Bakers (AMBB) in your Local Government Area.
• Inspection Approval: Inspection and approval of the proposed location for your bakery business is done by the Association of Master Bread Bakers and The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). The inspection and approval of NAFDAC is between 6 months to one year but the Association of Master Bread Bakers is continuous for as long as the bakery exists.

Education/Certification

Hiring in this business is based more on experience than educational qualification. However, higher education might be required for key staff members e.g. the accountant etc.

It is also advisable that workers are trained regularly to improve their skills and taught safety and hygiene regulations.

Infrastructure and Equipment

• Your Bakery should be located far away from drainages and high pollution factories
• Your Bakery should have heat extractor to expel heat for the kitchen
• It is mandatory to have a cloth room where your workers have a change of clothes. Workers who work over night should sleep in the cloth room.
• The building must consist of the Bakery, storage and administrative section.

Safety

• Fire extinguisher: This must be approved by the state’s fire service and the fire service inspector must specify where it should be placed. The fire extinguisher is usually placed at a place easily accessible to everyone
• emergency exit- this must be a double swing door which opens both ways in the event of an emergency

Procurement

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the association of master bakers wants to be sure you are making use of standardized materials from approved suppliers and so you need to provide the details of your suppliers.

Operational and Management Plan

Details of the operations and management plans must be drawn with full details. You need to think about how your business will run, the process involved and the people you need to run it. Your operation and management plan should describe how the business functions on a continual basis, state qualifications of the employees needed, state day to day job description, state tasks assigned to each division or unit within the company and the capital expense requirements required for the operations of the business.