FOOD PROCESSING BUSINESS IDEAS

INSTANT COFFEE POWDER?

Introduction

Coffee is a household crop in Uganda being one of the major foreign exchange
earners. It is widely produced and many Ugandans take it as a beverage, and
world over, it is a cherished drink. The demand for coffee as a beverage is on
the increase locally and any venture in its production and distribution is a
viable venture as it involves adding value to the coffee beans. This project is a
new venture as coffee powder is milled and sold over the counter to the waiting
customer or mixed there and then for them to consume immediately.

This coffee is fresh and richer in taste and flavor than the packaged and stored
stuff.

Production Process

The process envisaged is simple. Coffee beans are roasted first using a coffee
roaster and then blended

MAKING CHILLI SAUCE

Introduction Chilli sauce is hot in taste and eaten either as raw or cooked for
its hot flavor. Chilli or Pepper is used to make a variety of sauces and chilli
pickles. Production Capacity

The Rated Plant capacity is 500ltrs/day

Production Process

Chilli sauce is made following the steps outlined below:

1. Cut chilies roughly;

2. Peel & chop garlic;

3. Measure the capacity of your bottle with the jug & water;
4. Add chilies’ garlic to the jug & enough vinegar to make the volume you need;

5. Transfer these to a pan;

6. Add 5 teaspoons of salt, and a teaspoon of sugar;

7. Heat to boil;

8. Blend this mixture until smooth;

9. Re-heat in the pan;

10. Pour into your bottle using the jug.

Raw Materials/Ingredients

Hot Paper, Salt, Mustard oil, Vinegar, Chillies and Garlic

Equipment

The Essential tools and equipment required for Chill Manufacturing includes:
Food-blender, a sauce pan, graduated jug & a clean bottle.

TURKEY PACKING

Introduction

Turkeys are birds (poultry) that are picking up high demand during festivities
and any functions. The provision of processed and non-processed turkeys
would attract a lot of customers. They can be supplied to schools, hotels,
families, higher institutions of learning, hospitals, and supermarkets and could
be exported too.

Process, Capacity and Technology

The birds are obtained from farmers rearing and healthy turkeys are taken to
the slaughter house for slaughtering and dressed and dissected. The turkeys
are sorted according to sizes and before they are packed, some are cut into
pieces for packaging. Some are packed whole, or half or quarter pieces. While
others are packed as specific parts of wings, breasts, bulbs, gizzards etc. It
could also be packed as de-boned turkey meat.

Market Analysis

The key customers will be: Supermarkets, Canteens, Universities, Schools, and
Hotels. There is high demand for turkeys during festive seasons thus a need for
reliable and consistent suppliers with quantity and Quality birds. There are no
players in this Industry

BLEACHED DRY GINGER

Introduction

Ginger is a commonly grown culinary item.

The envisaged project is to set up a plant to plant & to preserve ginger by

bleach-drying. The ginger is bleached, left to dry and dehydrated for
preservation.

Preserved ginger has a big market over an extended period. Used in instant
masalas, dried ginger is a sort of a ready mix for all food preparations. In the
pharmaceutical industry, ginger is used for extracting oleoresins. Ginger is
widely grown in Uganda and thus this project need not be put in the urban
areas alone.

The project can be put up in the rural areas where most of the ginger is grown.
Production process, capacity and Technology

Fresh ginger is cleaned thoroughly to remove soil and dirt. The outer skin is
peeled with the help of a stainless steel knife. The ginger is then washed and
soaked in limewater for 12 hours after which it is dried. This process is
repeated two or three times to get dried moisture level of 10-12 %.

The product is then packed in polythene lined gunny bags. The envisaged plant
has a minimum capacity of 200kg per day. The output can later on be
increased but the only issue is the sustainability of the supply of the ginger.
DEHYDRATED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Introduction

Fruits like grapes, oranges, papaya, mangoes, etc. are largely grown in Uganda.
However, they are harvested seasonally resulting in some seasons of relative
scarcity. In order to maintain the availability of fruits and vegetables
throughout the year, the activity of dehydration is undertaken. The process of
dehydration also helps constitute fruits and vegetables in a hygienic condition.

Production Process, Capacity and Technology

The process starts with major selection of the fruits and vegetables, and
washing them.

They are peeled, shelled, sliced, blanched and dehydrated under controlled
conditions.

The dehydrated fruits and vegetables are finally packed in suitable containers
to avoid moisture absorption.

Dehydration of fruits & vegetables is done by various processes like

Traditional Sun Drying, Solar Dryers, Mechanical Dryers, vacuum freeze
drying, vacuum drying, Osmotic dehydration, dehydration through explosion
puffing and microwave based technique.

The envisaged project has minimum daily capacity of 100kg per day.

Market Analysis

The market for fruits and vegetables exists all year round. Supply is bound to
increase the returns to investment. Supply is recommended to supermarket
chains, Grocery shops, main markets, as they can help a lot in capturing a big
portion of the market. With an increased shelf life for the fruits and vegetables,
the profit sales ratio is bound to increase; however, there are no key players in
this sector apparently in Uganda as most of these products are being imported.
Pumpkin Flour Processing

Introduction A pumpkin is a cultivar of a squash plant, most commonly of

Cucurbita pepo that is round, with smooth, slightly ribbed skin, and most
often deep yellow to orange in coloration. The thick shell contains the seeds
and pulp.

Pumpkins can be processed as a way of Value Addition in form of flour for

easy storage.

Pumpkin is a nutritious plant food that supports heart and eye health, boosts
immunity, and supplements dietary fiber. It produces pumpkin juice, pumpkin
wine and ready-to-eat roasted pumpkin seeds, as well as pumpkin powder from
leaves and flowers which is used to make bread, cookies, biscuits, bagias,
soup, seeds, peanut butter, and pumpkin ginger and cinnamon tea spices,
among other products.

Pumpkins are a traditional crop grown in many parts of central and western
Uganda as a food crop. It is also for income generation.

Due to surplus production and less consumer demand there is a crash in

prices during peak season and its scarcity during off peak-season resulting
into higher market price fluctuations causing losses to the Producers/farmers.
Moreover, pumpkins cannot be stored for a long time due to degradation of
carotenoids. The ultimate solution to this problem is the dehydration of
pumpkin, which is considered as the classical method of preservation.

Production Capacity, Technology and processing description

This Investment Profile is focusing on the production of 36,000 kgs of Pumpkin

Flour per year for the first two years, and production is expected to increase to
38,000 kg in the third year of operation.
Technology This investment profile may not require sophisticated technology
depending on the available resources. It only requires a huller machine, mixer
and solar dryers.

Production Process

After getting pumpkins from the garden, they are chopped using knives, and
into smaller pieces with slicer and then spread them on the dryer for some few
days.

The dried pumpkins are then crushed/milled to make flour/ powder. This
powder can be mixed with other flours such as Soya bean or Maize flour that is
packed for porridge or bread making and is ready for marketing.

Selling a fresh pumpkin may require some time, but to save time, it’s better if
the pumpkins are processed into flour for easy storage and marketability.

 Mature and ripe pumpkins are cut to remove the outer skin and slice
thinly.
 Its then placed under a solar drier to avoid direct heat from the sun
which may cause nutrient loss
 When the moisture content is lost, and the pumpkins are dry, they can
be taken for crushing or milling.
 The powder is then mixed in other powders like Soya bean and maize
flour
 The mixture is then packed into branded packing materials and ready for
sale.

Poultry Dressing and Packaging

Introduction Poultry Processing
Poultry processing is the transformation of birds, mainly chicken into different
packaged products such as chicken fillet, chicken breasts and drumsticks to
mention but a few. Due to the tedious and time consuming procedure of
preparation of chicken right from slaughtering, many households and majority
of hotels, restaurants are developing a preference for purchasing processed
chicken as it is faster and easier to prepare with an element of consistency in
terms of quality and quantity which makes this investment profile lucrative.
Business Idea Implementation Capacity and Process
The projected quantity to be produced is based on the projected demand
assessed from the current market size for processed chicken products. This
demand will be 120,000 kgs in year 1 and will be expected to double to
240,000 Kgs from year 4 onwards due to the increase size of market share
which will be gained through intensive marketing and rolling out low priced
quality products into the market. The following logical steps shall be adopted in
the poultry processing business undertaking.

 Processing starts with acquisition of birds which are then shackled and
hung upside down in a dark room.
 The birds are then stunned to unconsciousness and later death.
 The birds are cut on the neck to cut the major blood vessels for the
blood to exit the carcass.
 Birds are then placed in a scalder to loosen their feathers for plucking.
 After plucking, removal of feet, neck, oil glands and internal organs.
 The internal organs are inspected for signs of disease and if any is
identified, the carcass is disposed off.
 The edible internal organs such as the gizzards are then cleaned up and
packaged to sell separately.
 The carcass is then washed and chilled by immersing in cold water to
prevent microbial growth.
 The chicken can then be cut up and packed as chicken thighs, breasts,
and wings or deboned and packaged as fillet ready for the market.
Scale of Investment Capital Investment Requirements and Equipment
The capital requirements for the targeted scale of investment is estimated at
USD 163,000 over 5 years and is expected to yield an estimated revenue
stream of USD 6,710,000 over the 5-yearperiod. 70% of Review and
Development of 50 SME Investment Profiles 40 UIA the capital investment will
be financed by the owners’ equity with 30% financed through loan financing.
Equipment will be a capital based with the machinery doing most of the work
such as plucking and deboning. Capital Investment will be carried out over a %
year period as illustrated in the investment
Banana Processing Snacks

Introduction
Banana snacks are crunchy slices of dried bananas prepared from sweet
bananas. The market for banana snacks is mainly comprised of young children
as well as adults and therefore their demand is high in places like boarding
schools, supermarkets and towns. They are relatively cheap snacks and hence
their demand is high and commands a mass national market. Uganda has a
population of 31 million of which the youth and the children who are the key
broad target market comprise over 70%. Furthermore, of the targeted youth
30% of the targeted youth and children who live in urban centers which are the
key concentrations of market demand.

Raw Material Requirements

The major raw material for banana snacks processing is the sweet bananas,
preferably Bogoya which has the most demand in Uganda. These can be
obtained from farmers in western Uganda at a relatively low price.

Production Technology and Process Description

The main processed banana snacks in focus are banana crisps as they have
the highest market demand in Uganda and call for simple processing
technology using simple equipment whose investment capital cost
requirements are low.

● The banana snacks production process starts with obtaining of ripe bananas
(Bogoya).

● The ripe bananas are washed, peeled and sliced into desired slice shapes.

● The slices are deep fried in a deep sided pan in small batches of 1 layer per
batch until they are crispy and slightly brown.

● After frying, the banana slices/crisps are removed and placed on a plate with
a layer of paper towel to soak up the surface oil and allowed to cool.

● After cooling, the crisps are packaged in the desired quantities and boxed,
ready for sale.
Market Analysis and Marketing Plan

The market for banana snacks is mainly comprised of small scale producers
most of whom produce for a small market and in small fixed quantities with
substandard packaging which presents an opportunity as the market can be
dominated if we produce banana crisps in good quality packaging and in
different size packages at an affordable cost. There is a high demand for
banana snacks especially banana crisps in Uganda particularly in densely
populated towns where they are consumed by the young children and middle
aged population as leisure snacks. Banana crisps are also consumed in large
institutions such as schools a snack. A substantial amount of this market can
be captured through intensive captivating marketing to attract the young
children through television, radio and billboard advertising. Bogoya is a cheap
raw material to obtain and this makes production of banana snacks a relatively
cheap investment which will yield affordable products.