Setting Up Fruit Juice Production and Packaging Plant
By Uba Godwin
A cursory look at Nigeria fruit juice market between December 2003 and January 2004, one can run into conclusion that the number of imported brands of fruit juice is gradually reducing in number. The study revealed that the federal government is very serious in the enforcement its policy on banning of imported fruit juice in Nigeria. Few of the imported brands fruit juice/ drinks seen in the market today came into this country through illegal means since Nigeria ports has not experience any fruit juice imported through official way. Therefore there is need for government to tighten up the Nigerian borders to avoid smuggling of these products into the country. If this is done immediately then there is possibility that the industry will be a very good area to invest into by Nigerians.
Pure natural Fruit juice extracted from fruits such as oranges, pine-apples, mangoes, paw-paw, guava and cashew fruits etc contain a lot of vitamin c otherwise known as Ascorbic Acid and can be preserved and packaged without losing the nutritional values. Generally deficiency in ascorbic acid causes scurvy, body malfunctioning and malnutrition.
Nigeria grows a lot of fruits in large quantities.
About 40% of the fruits are wasted annually due to lack of preservatives.
Realizing that Nigeria has abundant fruits and what it takes to run fruits juice producing plant, the Federal Government of Nigeria banned importation of foreign packaged fruit drinks and Julces.
This policy has created an investment opportunities for Nigerians.
The plant and machinery needed for the setting up of this project are locally available. However prospective investors that are in need of foreign machines will be given detail information on some foreign companies that into production of foreign machines and equipment.
These machines and equipment include, Sorting tables, Washing machines, Extractor, Homogenizer, Pasteurizer, Corking/ Bottling/ Canning Machines (complete packaging system). The prospective investors has the option of bottling, canning, and spectra packing of the envisage product. Detail information will be provided to prospective investors in Nigeria and abroad on how to effectively and efficiently set up and manage the project profitably in any part of Nigeria.
The entire machines can be sourced locally. The imported ones are available also in the country. If the promoters should want the machines from Europe, South Africa, America and Asian countries, the writer will conveniently link them to these foreign companles.
The advantage in setting up this plant is that the promoter would be able to be in production throughout the year using different types of fruits in the season for production. The promoter is therefore sure of applying any type of fruit throughout the whole year.
Since these fruits grow at different times of the year, the plant will be busy for a substantial part of the year.
With availability of raw-fruits, the plant can produce over 1,000,000 liters of pure and quality fresh fruit juice/drinks per annum working for about 250 days in a year at average. The quantity.of production may be increased or even doubled as the year of operation progresses.
The most important thing to put into consideration when setting up this project is the quality of the products and packaging. The packaging must be very attractive and can either be done in the form of bottling, canning and spectra-packing. All these methods would be clearly discussed in the comprehensive and bankable feasibility studies available to prospective investors.
The major raw materials for this project are fresh fruits and concentrates. The concentrates will serve as a substitute to fresh fruits when the need arises. Most of Nigerian fruit juice /drinks producers usually use concentrate as raw materials.
These fruits are abundant in this country. There are lots of fruits all over the country; therefore the project can be sited in any part of the country. Concentrates are imported from South Africa. Details of those companies that produce concentrates will be given to prospective investors.
The production processes of fruit juices/ drinks involves the sorting of the ripe and fresh fruits received from suppliers, washing, peeling, feeding them into the installed machinery to extract the juice. This is then pasteurized, bottled or canned or spectra packed depending on the method of packaging adopted by the promoters.
Preservatives are normally added to prolong the shelf life of the Julce.
The space requirement is about 400 square metres. The plant outlay will be presented in the feasibility studies.
The establishment of this factory will encourage farmers who will be assured of steady demand for their fruits at reasonable stable prices to grow more, create employment opportunities for farm helps, and stem the tide of rural- urban migration. The spin-of effects are many.
From preliminary investment analysis, a realistic estimated cost of establishing the project is 5. lmillion Naira on a small scale.
The cost may increase if the capacity is increased. It also depends on the type of packaging system adopted by the prospective investors. Canning and spectra packing methods command higher costs of establishment. Details will be shown in the comprehensive and bankable feasibility studies.
The project is seen as a very feasible and viable one, especially now that Government has banned the massive importation of fruit juice/ drinks from oversea.
The raw materials are 99% locally available, both the process equipment and spare parts are locally available and technology involved are relatively simple, while the labour requirement is abundantly available.
It will contribute signif~cantly to the Gross National Product and guarantee good Returns on Investment for any prospective investor. The payback period of the project is short and encouraging.
For detailed information on setting up and management of the proposed venture, comprehensive and bankable feasibility studies, investment advisory services in the area of industrial/ manufacturing projects, procurement & installations of the machines, sourcing of the required funds, please contact the writer.
Finally there is good market for the envisaged products.
Uba can be reached at Global Trust Ventures Limited, 56, Ishaga Road (lst flour), Suru-Lere, Lagos. Tel; 01-472155O, 08023664368 E-mail; [email protected]
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