our story

& peter’s legacy

MAKING EVERYDAY A PROTON DAY SINCE 1961

The family-owned Proton Bakers (Pvt) Ltd was established in Marondera some 61 years ago. The bakery was founded by Peter Tselentis, who was born on the Greek Island of Kefalonia. The war years were difficult and and it was not uncommon for teenagers to find employment to help meet their family’s needs. Therefore, at the age of 13, Peter left Greece in search of earning a living. Peter arrived in Rhodesia in 1947 and worked for several bakeries in Salisbury, his entrepreneurial spirit always driving his passion for work.

1961

The Original Bakery

Proton Baker’s birth place at number 4 Longlands Road, Marondera

1968

Bread Production Line

A labour intensive process before the automation lines hit the factory floors.

The Early Days & Expansion

Soon after, during that same year, Peter left Salisbury to settle in Marandellas. He worked for the Model Bakery, which was owned at that time by the Vandoros brothers, Anthony and Gerasimos. Four years later, Peter was approached to run a new bakery, Umtali Bakery for the Zambelis family. Whilst waiting for Umtali Bakery to be completed, Peter found employment at the original London Bakery in Rezende Street, where he worked as a baker and confectioner for a short period in 1951. ln 1953, the Vandoros brothers recognised Peter’s entrepreneurial spirit and gave him the opportunity to rent Model Bakery from them. He left Umtali Bakery to settle in Marandellas. Peter ran the business very successfully for a couple of years before he offered to buy out the Vandoros brothers and become sole owner of Model Bakery. In time, Peter would procure Standard Bakery situated in Marandellas as well.

Although Peter recognised there was great potential for expansion, the municipality’s governing laws meant he couldn’t expand the business in the center of town, so he purchased a piece of land in the Marandellas’ industrial area, giving him the space to allow his business to grow into a large company. The present bakery, Proton Bakers was built from scratch in 1959 driven by Peter’s long-term plans for his bakery.

Bread soon became the core business at Proton and with increased competition from Salisbury bakeries, Peter decided to purchase a plant with a capacity of 900 loaves an hour. He installed a Baker Perkins plant with a single burner turbo radiant oven. In those days, such an extravagant purchase was complete madness! However, Peter was committed to the bakery’s success, so much so that there were many nights when he slept in the bakery to monitor the bakery operations.

Our Evolving Mark of Quality

1961-2003

2003-2009

2009-2016

2016-Present

The New Generation

Fast forward to 2022, Proton Bakers has been under the directorship of Peter’s sons, Gerry and Spiros Tselentis for over 30 years. Having enormous pride in their business, the brothers work efficiently together, leading their faithful team to new heights and production capacities. The team have expectations of excellence across all aspects of product and service delivery. Their core value is to strive to be the “best of the best”, in every aspect of everything that they do. The organisational structure has evolved to adjust to the current business environment and enhanced competitiveness. With an ambitious growth strategy, Gerry and Spiros have grown the family business to levels which Peter might never have imagined. Proton Bakers currently employ over 1700 members of staff and participate in various community projects and outreaches.

Proton Today & The Future

Proton Bakers’ head office is in Marondera, where all manufacturing takes place. Distribution occurs from Marondera and via the Harare and Bulawayo depots. Much attention has been given, recently, to product development and expansion of the cookie and biscuit ranges, and most recently, the instant sponge cake mixes. With national representation through various retail and wholesale partners, Proton Bakers has become a household name. The company has been recognized through various presitgious awards including the Marketers’ Association Superbrand of the Year 2021, and top positions in Exceptional Marketers Awards, the Buy Zimbabwe campaign awards, The CEO Africa Round Table as well as Mega Fest Business awards.