How To Start Plantain Flour Production For Export

 

Plantain is a food crop that can be grown and processed profitably in Nigeria. Study shows that the production of plantain is over 80 million metric tones per year. Despite this figure, demand still outstrips supply. That is why I want to put you through on what it takes to start a plantain flour mill so that you can tap from this opportunity.

Plantain can either be used for domestic consumption or used as input by other producers. For instance, plantain can be processed into chips or flour and sold locally or export abroad.

Plantain flour is made of dried and pulverized sliced plantain. Therefore, the major constituent used in making Plantain flour is PLANTAIN and it is available all year round in commercial quantities in many parts of Nigeria. Nigeria is said to be the largest producer of plantain in West Africa.

Plantain Flour

Plantain flour has now become a popular food today in both local and international market. In Nigeria, the potential national demand for plantain flour has been estimated to be in excess of 300,000 Tonnes/Annul.

The current supply level is probably less than 20% of the estimated demand with only few companies producing on mechanized and commercial scale.

The facilities required for a small/medium scale plantain flour mill include drying machine, slicing/chipping machine, milling machine and packaging machine.

The average production cost per Kg of plantain flour is N236, while the average retail price per Kg of good quality plantain flour is N330 per Kg.

Plantain flour is used in preparing a staple food, loved by different tribes of Nigeria. In the southwestern region of Nigeria, it can be kneaded into dough usually called “Amala” by the Yoruba speaking tribe. The health benefit of plantain flour cannot be over emphasized. This makes this product a very good exportable product among semi-finished exportable product category in Nigeria.

Major Benefits of Plantain Flour

Plantain is rich in high fiber content, It has low sodium/fat content and relatively rich is protein (between 3.0 to 3.5%) compared to other fruits.  It contains high level of Ascorbic Acid, Carotene and some other vitamins valuable to the development of the body. Plantain flour consumption is especially good for patients suffering from: Diabetes, Coronary Heart Disease, Arteriosclerosis, Angina Pectoris, Palpitation, High Cholesterol Level, High Blood Pressure, Obesity e.t.c. Plantain has been listed as one of the major high fibre rich foods.

There is high demand of plantain flour in the international market. Especially Nigerians in diaspora are in current need of plantain flour. The increasing health benefit of plantain flour discovered day-by-day by researchers worldwide has relatively increased the demand of the product. Right now, just a few companies are supplying this product to the international market from Nigeria. To start this business, the most important Raw Material you need is PLANTAIN which we have enough suppliers to supply you.

Export Market Prospect

The most interesting aspect of plantain flour is that it has high demand both in the international and local market. This means, you can sell locally here in Nigeria and also export to African countries and other continents of the world. You can make more profit if you are exporting it abroad. If you are a Nigerian and well established in Diaspora, you can embark on this project in Nigeria, and start importing the product to your country, thereby serving as both exporter and importer. This will highly increase your profit in the business but it is important for you to check import regulation of the country of your residence.

Production Procedure

For production of plantain flour, you will need the following machines:  Dryer; Plantain Slicer; Hammer Mill with Cyclone; Vibro Sifter; Soaking Tanks; Packaging Machine

The procedure of production involves the following:

Sorting: This involves inspection of plantain fingers to identify and remove unsuitable ones i.e. spoilt, immature pulps e.t.c.

Weighing: The sorted plantains are properly weighed to quantify input of the raw plantain.

Blanching: in order to achieve easy peeling, the green plantain fruits are soaked in hot water for some minutes to soften the skin.

Peeling: The plantain skin are removed manually using sharp knives to obtain the pulp.

Slicing: A mechanical slicer will be used to slice the pulp.

Drying: In this process, the sliced plantain will be dried

Milling: A hammer mill will be used to mill the dried sliced plantain.

Sieving: In this process, the flour is sieved to obtain the desired particle size.

Packaging: Finally the flour will be packaged in a moisture proof packaging material according to various measures.

This project requires you to put some things in place before take-off like: factory building, machinery and equipment, generator, project vehicle, office furniture, equipment and bore hole. You might also need up to 58 personnel both skilled and casual in running this project.

Financial Requirements

If you operate a plantain flour mill that has the capacity to process 1tone of plantain flour per day, and you implement a good and efficient marketing strategy, the following average monthly figures are true:

Production volume per month = 29tones (29000Kg)

Sales = N9, 570,000

Direct cost of sales = N6, 844,000

Miscellaneous = N500,000

Profit per month = N2,226,000.

Plantain flour mill can be operated profitably any where in Nigeria. The start-up cost at a small scale is approximately N6,000,000. This will cover the cost of procurement of land, factory construction, furniture, vehicle and procurement/installation of machinery

On a larger scale, this project would require within N25m – N30m for startup depending on your business location and can attract a Return on Investment of 30% – 48% per annum, if you are producing within 450-500 tons/annum or more.