Yam is a tropical annual climbing plant that is tuber bearing in nature.

It
is commonly eaten in West Africa especially in Nigeria. Due to growing
changes in lifestyle and stress levels, people now prefer already
processed yam flour that makes food making easy.

Yam flour is milky white in colour and slightly sour in taste with a
slightly fermented flavour. Made from fermented fresh yam tubers, it
can be prepared the same way semovita, foofoo, dawavita and the rest
are prepared. It can be eaten with stew or soup.

Why Start a Yam Flour Production Company?

The market demand for yam flour has been growing massively over the
years due to factors like growth in population, lack of time, convenience,
quick preparation etc. It is mostly beneficial to wives who have so many
things to handle in the house, most especially career wives that joggle
work and family chores. Yam flour is also an active ingredient in the
preparation of biscuits, cake, bread etc.

According to reports, over 30 percent of harvested yam tubers in Nigeria

are wasted or spoilt due to lack of mechanism for preserving and
processing them. However, these days, farmers now know that the best
way to preserve yam is to convert them to flour. West Africa accounts
for 90-95 percent of the world yam production and

Nigeria is a leading producer with over 66 percent. A business that

processes yam into flour can be lucrative in rural communities where
yam is prevalent. Aside from attracting development to that area, it will
also bring employment to the youths in the area that probably would
have migrated to town in search of greener pastures. Farmers would be
relieved, as they will not have to watch their food crops waste.

The supply gap in the industry keeps widening globally due to the ever-
growing population, and therefore creates demand that you can easily fill
if you have the need equipment and expertise. The only raw material you
need to start this lucrative business is yam. The major producers of yam
in Nigeria are Niger, Adamawa, Plateau, Benue, Taraba, Cross-River,
Edo, Kaduna, Delta, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo and Osun States.

Industry Overview

Yam is an important source of carbohydrate for many people of the Sub

Sahara region especially in the yam zones of West Africa. It remains the
second most important tuber crop in Africa, after just cassava root, with
production reaching above one third of the level of cassava.

Yam tuber is without doubt a starchy food, its key nutritional function
being the supply of calories to the body. This characteristic contributes
to the sustaining of food supply, especially in the scarcity periods at the
start of the wet season.

Yam tubers grow up to 2.5m (8.2ft) in length and weigh up to 70kg

(154lb). It has a tough stem that softens after heating. They are annual or
perennial tuber-bearing and climbing plants with over 600 species out of
which six are economically important in terms of food and medicine.

It is one of the principal tuber crops in the Nigeria economy, in terms of

land under cultivation and in the volume and value of production. These
tubers are grown on over 5 million hectares in about 47 countries of the
world with Nigeria as the leading world producer.

Note that most of the yam produced around the globe comes from
Nigeria, which is the highest producer and exporter worldwide (about 70
percent of global production followed Ghana and then Cote d’Ivoire.
Oyo North remains the major and highest yam-producing zone in
Nigeria as well as in the whole South West of Nigeria where the
common species are Dioscorea rotundata (White Yam) and Dioscorea
alat (water yam).

In these areas, the variety of yam cultivated depend on the yield,

commercial value as well as excellent food products. Yam production in
this area is on commercial production that can sustain any yam-
processing venture resulting in high profits. There are specific varieties
of the two yam species (Dioscorea rotundata and Dioscorea alata) which
are best suited for particular yam products.

. Executive Summary

Nigeria has not been able to exploit its abundant yam tuber population to
become a major player in the international processed yam sub-sector.
The major reasons include; non-availability of appropriate yam storage,
lack of low cost processing equipment and absence of modernized forms
of yam processing. To the amelioration of these, we plan to start Geremy
foods processing company.

Geremy foods processing Company is a registered business that will

process and produce yam flour in kaduna. This business aims to promote
investments in Instant Pounded Yam and Yam and yam flour in Nigeria.

In an effort to achieve these, we have carried out extensive feasibility

research and put together a business plan to highlight the profitability
inherent in this investment. All information used in this business plan
were sourced from various reliable sources, which aside from our due
diligence, includes statistics taken from the office of Food and
Agriculture Organization and the National Bureau of Statistics in
Nigeria.

This business plan provides a financial and economic analysis of the

opportunities available in this sector for us and identifies the potential
technical strengths and challenges that we may encounter. We chose to
locate our business in kaduna after our extensive research because it
provides us with close proximity to yams from Niger, Benue and
Nassarawa.

Niger still remains a centre of agricultural trade for such products as

yams, cassava, and rice.
In recent years, there have been massive infrastructural developments
ongoing in the urban centre; these include road construction, shopping
malls and market places, in kaduna state.

As the city keeps booming in growth, we at Geremy food processing

Company, will receive an added boost of traffic. We are aggressively
planning for a 50 percent increase in sales the second year of business.
We believe that by creating good supply channels, we can comfortably
increase sales by more than N3, 000,000 over three years while
maintaining a gross margin of 80 percent.

Through a philosophy of “nothing but the best” regarding both product

and service, we plan to make sure our yams and every other product
produced in our facility remains exceptional. Our plan is to be profitable
within the first year of operation. We also plan reinvest in the company
and expand to three more facilities across the country by the third year.

Our Products and Services

Although most of the yams produced in Nigeria are fresh yam, informal
yam processing has formed an integral part of culture. These informal
processors process yam into yam flour majorly, and this is where our
Geremy food processing company falls in. At this initial stage of our
business, we plan to offer the products elaborated below, but will grow
our business offerings as our business expands in coming years.

 Yam Flour

Yam flour is brownish in colour and produced from dried yam. Yam
flour is often fortified with vitamins (e.g. A, B, B2, B3) or minerals (e.g.
iron), or occasionally blended with other flours. With regard to the
properties of the product, yam flour should have a moisture content of
around 10 percent, and should be free of moulds (fungi), etc. Dried yam
products have a shelf life of approximately one year.
  Instant-Pounded Yam Flour

In Nigeria, pounded yam is consumed by almost every tribe in the

Country. Its consumption cuts across all regions, age groups, economic
and social classes. It is served in parties, ceremonies, hotels, restaurants,
and as a family menu.

The traditional method of making pounded yam which requires physical

pounding with pestle and mortar by two or more persons depending on
the quantity, is very laborious and mostly unhygienic. We have learnt
and perfected a process technology for production of Instant Pounded
Yam Flour (IPYF to remove the drudgery associated with the traditional
pounding method.

VISION
Our vision is to be a leader in the implementation of agricultural
projects, focusing on the establishment of agricultural farms,
operations and management, sales and marketing of agricultural
products.
MISSION STATEMENT
To produce high quality agricultural products using improved
production, value addition and marketing innovation for multiple
benefits.
OBJECTIVES
To form mutually beneficial partnerships with individual farmers, local
and foreign investors, farmers group/associations, traders, whole
sellers and enter strategic partnerships with investors in the agricultural
business.
To use improved crop production technologies and innovative
marketing techniques for maximum enterprises profitability.
To process and market crops at affordable prices enough to meet
production, marketing, and managing cost along the way making
profits.

Our Business Structure

Geremy Food Processing Company is a privately owned and managed

food processing business that intends starting small Nigeria, but hopes to
grow big in order to compete favorably with leading food processing
companies in the industry both in locally and on a global stage. We are
aware of the importance of building a solid business structure that can
support the kind of world class business we want to own.

At Geremy Food Processing Company, we will ensure that we hire

people that are qualified, hardworking, and creative, result driven,
customer centric and are ready to work to help us build a prosperous
business that will benefit all our stakeholders.

As a matter of fact, profit-sharing arrangement will be made available to

all our senior management staff and it will be based on their
performance as agreed by the board of trustees of the company. In view
of the above, we have decided to hire qualified and competent hands to
occupy the following positions;

 Chief Operating Officer

 Food Processing Plant Manager
 Human Resources and Admin Manager
 Accountant / Cashier
 Sales and Marketing Executive
 Workers
 Front Desk Officer

Job Roles and Responsibilities

Chief Executive Officer – CEO:

  Responsible for increasing management’s effectiveness by
recruiting, selecting, orienting, training, coaching, counseling, and
disciplining managers; communicating values, strategies, and
objectives; assigning accountabilities; planning, monitoring, and
appraising job results
 Responsible for creating, communicating, and implementing the
organization’s vision, mission, and overall direction – i.e. leading
the development and implementation of the overall organization’s
strategy.
 Responsible for fixing prices and signing business deals
 Responsible for providing direction for the business
 Responsible for creating, communicating, and implementing the
organization’s vision, mission, and overall direction – i.e. leading
the development and implementation of the overall organization’s
strategy.
 Responsible for signing checks and documents on behalf of the
company
 Evaluates the success of the organization.

Food Processing Plant Manager

 Responsible for overseeing the smooth running of the food

processing plant
 Part of the team that determines the quantity of products that are to
be produced
 Map out strategy that will lead to efficiency amongst workers in
the plant
 Responsible for training, evaluation and assessment of plant
workers
 Ensures that the steady flow of fresh farm produce to the plant and
easy flow of finished products (well – processed and well –
packaged processed foods) through wholesale distributors to the
market
 Ensures operation of equipment by completing preventive
maintenance requirements; calling for repairs.
  Ensures that the plant meets the expected safety and health
standard at all times
 Ensure compliance in the plant
 Providing advice on the management of plant activities across all
sections
 Responsible for carrying out risk assessment in the plant
 Using IT systems and software to keep track of people and
progress of the growth of the organization
 Represent the organization’s interest at various stakeholders’
meetings
 Ensures that organizations’ goals and desired result is achieved, the
most efficient resources (manpower, equipment, tools and
chemicals et al) are utilized and different interests involved are
satisfied

Human Resources and Admin Manager

 Responsible for overseeing the smooth running of HR and

administrative tasks for the organization
 Maintains office supplies by checking stocks; placing and
expediting orders; evaluating new products.
 Ensures operation of equipment by completing preventive
maintenance requirements; calling for repairs.
 Defining job positions for recruitment and managing interviewing
process
 Carrying out induction for new team members
 Responsible for training, evaluation and assessment of employees
 Responsible for arranging travel, meetings and appointments
 Oversee the smooth running of the daily office activities

Accountant/Cashier:

 Responsible for preparing financial reports, budgets, and financial

statements for the organization
 Provides managements with financial analyses, development
budgets, and accounting reports
  Responsible for financial forecasting and risks analysis.
 Performs cash management, general ledger accounting, and
financial reporting for one or more properties.
 Responsible for developing and managing financial systems and
policies
 Responsible for administering payrolls
 Ensuring compliance with taxation legislation
 Handles all financial transactions for the company
 Serves as internal auditor for the company

Sales and Marketing Manager

 Manage external research and coordinate all the internal sources of

information to retain the organizations’ best customers and attract
new ones
 Model demographic information and analyze the volumes of
transactional data generated by customer
 Identifies development opportunities; follows up on development
leads and contacts
 Writing winning proposal documents, negotiate fees and rates in
line with organizations’ policy
 Responsible for handling business research, market surveys and
feasibility studies
 Responsible for supervising implementation, advocate for the
customer’s needs, and communicate with clients
 Develop, execute and evaluate new plans for expanding increase
sales
 Create new markets for the organization
 Empower and motivates the sales team to meet and surpass agreed
targets

Workers

 Follow recipes and formulas to produce food products that have a

very specific texture, color, and clarity.
  Record test and production data for every product batch, including
information regarding test results, temperature, time cycle and
ingredients utilized.
 Measure and weigh with the assistance of balance scales and
metric measures.
 Monitor and listen to equipment to detect audible or visual signs of
malfunctions, including leaks and other failures. Report any
malfunctions or quality issues immediately to supervisors.
 Clean and sterilize factory processing areas and food production
vats daily.
 Handles any other duties as assigned by the manager

Front Desk/Customer’s Service Officer 

 Welcomes guests and clients by greeting them in person or on the

telephone; answering or directing inquiries.
 Ensures that all contacts with clients (e-mail, walk-In center, SMS
or phone) provides the client with a personalized customer service
experience of the highest level
 Through interaction with clients on the phone, uses every
opportunity to build client’s interest in the company’s products and
services
 Manages administrative duties assigned by the manager in an
effective and timely manner
 Consistently stays abreast of any new information on the
company’s products, promotional campaigns etc. to ensure
accurate and helpful information is supplied to clients
 Receives parcels / documents for the company
 Distribute mails in the organization

SWOT ANALYSIS

At Geremy food processing company we were able to take stock of our

strengths, our weakness, our opportunities and the threats that we are
likely going to be exposed in the industry. This is to get us ready for the
competition ahead and how best to tackle it. Summarized below is the
result of our SWOT Analysis:

Strengths

 Availability and easy accessibility to raw-materials

 Access to cheap labour
 Thorough knowledge of target market and their peculiar needs
 The organization structure shall be function-based and each
employee shall have a clearly defined strategy and goal plan.

Weakness

 The business is a start-up and the future is always uncertain for

most start-up companies
 The initial stages of the business require an enormous amount of
investment

Opportunities

 The yam processing food production industry is still untapped

 Fast growing middle class population within Nigeria
 Huge population of Nigerians living abroad

Threats

 This being a new entity there is a threat from new business

entrants
 Cheap imitation instant pounded yam flooding the market
 Non-compliance with strict NAFDAC regulations on production
 There is a threat of other more established companies starting
this line of business thus leading to stiff competition that the
company might not be able to cope with.
 MARKET ANALYSIS

 Market Trend

There are no reliable statistics to help in determining national demand

for processed yam products. Statistics obtained from Federal Ministry of
Agriculture only gave the annual production of yam in Nigeria. The
Minister for State, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Senator Heineken
Lokpobiri, said, “About 48 million tonnes of yam tubers are produced
annually in West African sub-region on 4 million hectares of land.

Nigeria alone produces 36million tonnes on 3 million hectares of land

annually accounting for 68 percent of global production. Meanwhile, the
national demand for yam flour can be derived using some basic
assumptions. For instance, the food-processing group of Lagos chamber
of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) in a seminar held in 2015 projected
that at least one person in every six families eat pounded yam daily in
Nigeria.

The population of Nigeria is estimated to be 180 million. Assuming that

a family consists of six persons (father, mother and four children) then
there are approximately 30million families in Nigeria. We can
comfortably assume therefore that about 5 million people eat pounded
yam daily in Nigeria.

An average daily consumption per person is 150gm; this is why most

packaging is 900gm per pack for a family consumption. The national
demand could be estimated therefore, to be 750 tons per day, excluding
production meant for export.

8. Our Target Market

Growth of the middle class in modern Nigeria has fueled the growing
health awareness of the need for hygienically well-packaged and
prepared foods. These coupled with the geometrically exploding
population and the continued rural-urban drift is expected to fuel the
demand for well-packaged foodstuffs especially instant-pounded yam
flour, a staple food in the country.

Yam flour is one of the food items that defy socio-economic class,
religious and ethnic boundaries; it is eaten daily in one of every six
families in the country. In recent times, due to the numerous products
{yam chips, pellets, starch} that can be processed from yam tubers, and
the growing need for hygienically well packaged ready to use food
product by the growing middle class, there is a gap in the supply of
instant pounded yam flour in Nigeria.

This insinuates a shift in the demand-supply equilibrium in favour of

instant-pounded yam flour producers and other yam related product
makers. The Demand-supply gap has been identified to continue to
expand as the population of the country that is estimated to be 180
Million continues to grow at an average of 3.5 percent per annum.

In addition, the rural – urban drift in Nigeria would help to deepen the
market for instant-pounded yam flour. Our ideal consumers are those
who drive the various activities in the supply chain. In addition,
especially, it is important to note that prices are fixed based on the
readiness of the consumer to pay. This is often determined by the
location and product specification.

 competitive advantage

We believe that by creating good supply channels, we can comfortably

increase sales by more than N3, 000,000 over three years while
maintaining a gross margin of 80 percent. Through a philosophy of
“nothing but the best” regarding both product and service, we plan to
make sure our yams and every other product produced in our facility
remains exceptional in the Nigerian market.

Although price may be a factor when competing against other brands

selling processed yam products, the same consumers who are willing to
pay a good amount for easy chops are already conscious of a better
quality product. We strongly believe they will be equally as willing to
spend a little extra for an extraordinary food produced and processed to
meet their varying needs.

We also believe that the comfort factor that we will be offering plays an
important role in consumer decision about our business. Our goal is to
ensure that our brand and staff excel at being warm and friendly. We
will use the highest quality products; sometimes paring the ordinary with
the exotic, but we will always present our products in an unintimidating
manner.

9. SALES AND MARKETING STRATEGY

Our marketing plan at Geremy food processing company will center on

educating our target audience and subsequent word-of-mouth. We plan
to make our location known for its unique buying experience as well as a
superior yam flour production.

We plan to reach our clients through fliers, social media platforms,

websites, newspaper advertisements and special holiday promotions.
Our business location will also play a very important role in marketing
and promotion. We plan to target progressive and generally well-
educated and affluent consumers who are interested in trying new
products and experiences and are dissatisfied with the limited selection
and lack of solid and quality goods seen in Africa.

Our major marketing objective is to sell the company as well as the

product. Just as KFC is known for its great chickens, Geremy food
processing company will be known for its well-processed yam flours.

Sales Forecast

Our Sales Forecast at Geremy food processing company reflects modest

estimates for the first year of operation beginning in January 2021. After
we must have established our facility as the number one place to buy
yam flour, we plan to project aggressive sales increase for the following
years. For our second year of operation, we estimate sales increase of 30
percent and of 50 percent in the third year.

At Geremy food processing company we are planning a 15 percent

increase in quarterly marketing fee each of the two following years
while keeping costs constant. Note that our cost of sales is based on an
average yam cost of 30 percent for single purchase and 20 percent for
bulk purchase.

We also project a consistent product cost percentage of these amounts

for the following two years. Keeping product costs low while sales
increase is very crucial to the success and profitability of Geremy food
processing company.

We estimate that our total first year sales should reach $40,000. Our
second year will see sales increase to $80,000. The third year, with the
addition of such a significant number of outlets, we will see sales
increase to $200,000.

Publicity and Advertising Strategy

We observed that new entrants into the market usually employ one of
the following strategies.

 The Product Range Strategy

The product should compete favorably with the existing brands. It

should also be able to satisfy customers’ demands and fall within the
quality brands in the market. However, it is necessary we create a niche
for the brand even when the same technology is being used in the
processing.

 The Pricing Strategy Good pricing policy allows the product obtain
the necessary market share in terms of volume. The company
must be focused in determining whether the pricing policy is
based on costs push, or market pull or combination of the two.
  Promotional Strategy

We will promote sales using various means including granting of credit

facilities, bulk discount, product launching, and attractive packaging. In
relation to sales promotion, packaging would be designed to create a
favorable product image and establish corporate identity. Packaging also
establishes the products‟ differences in case of narrowly differentiated
products. It also offers protection at all stages of distribution.

 Distribution Strategy

This is a strategy to get the products to customers without much

inconvenience to customers and at a reasonable cost to the company.
The distribution channels could be any of the following: -

 Directly to the ultimate consumers

 Directly to the retailer who finally sells to the ultimate consumers.
 Direct sales through the wholesaler or agent
 A combination of any of these alternatives

Sources of Income

At Geremy food processing company we hope to earn income and

profits by offering Nigerians and the international market different
products from our yam flour production. We have made sure our
products will remain unique and rich and we believe our exceptional
customer service will set us apart in our business location.

Our plan is to be profitable within the first year of operation. We also

plan reinvest in the company and expand to three more facilities across
the country by the third year.

12. Our Pricing Strategy

Our business goal is to increase profits while also offering our clients the
best products and services there is in our line of business. We have made
plans to ensure our pricing will be comparable to the competition in the
market, but with the value-added feature of immediate and quality
products.

 Payment Options

Our plan at Geremy food processing company is to create payment

policy that will favor our clients. Our clients are the baseline of our
business and we plan to make every process easy and accessible to them.
We understand greatly that different people prefer different payment
options as it suits them. Here are the payment options that we will make
available to our clients:

 Payment by cash
 Payment via Point of Sale (POS) Machine
 Payment via online bank transfer (online payment portal)
 Payment via Mobile money

We have taken our time to align with numerous banking and payment
platforms that will help us achieve our plans with little or no hitches.

Startup Expenditure (Budget)

Our startup costs depend on important assumptions. For instance, we

assume a slow-growth economy, without major recession. We hope
there are no changes in technology to make products immediately
obsolete. We have done our research and have decided on the various
places we want to spend our startup capital, and they include:

 Land and Building – N10,000,000

 Plant & Equipment – N3,000,000
 Generators – N1,500,000
 Other Depreciable Assets –N2,500,000
 Other Facility –N500,000
 Pre-operational- N500,000
 Working Capital –N15,000,000
Going by the report from our research and feasibility studies, we will
need about N33,000,000 to start Geremy food processing company.

Generating Funding/Startup Capital for Geremy food processing

company.

At Geremy food processing company we hold true to our vision of

bringing a new concept with an old-fashioned feel in order to become
the number one in our industry. Our founding partners are experts in the
food industry and we trust in their abilities to lead Geremy food
processing company to its desired spot. We hope to raise our startup
fund through the following ways:

 Equity Capital
 Loan or Venture Capital
 Angel investors

14. Sustainability and Expansion Strategy

The raw material we will need at Geremy food processing company is

undoubtedly yam. In the production of yam flour, sometimes fresh yam
is not used by some yam flour producers; instead they use yams that are
about to spoil. They tend to get them at cheaper prices.

However, we at Geremy food processing company plan to use fresh

yam. Fresh yam is abundant in the Nigeria particularly in Benue, Niger
and Nassarawa States. It is estimated that a tuber of yam weighs between
8-10kg per piece. 500 kg of relatively large tubers when processed is
reported to yield 150kg of finished product (instant-pounded yam flour).

In addition, the company will follow a systematic, scheduled approach,

from setting overall cooperate objectives at the beginning of the year to
rewarding employees at the end of the year. We will steadily offer staff
trainings and enlightenment to grow the expertise and experience of our
workforce. Below are the key objectives of our sustainability trainings
and staff improvements:
Types of Training/Development Activities

 Staff training/development activities at Geremy food processing

company can be employer- or employee initiated. In either case,
has to be approved by the manager in charge of the department
or above with additional endorsement from the Human Resources
Department or the Chief Executive.
 Employee-initiated training/development activities may include
external programs that are organized by external training
institutes or by the company.
 Employer-initiated programs may take the form of offering
sponsorship for employees to attend external programs or
organizing such programs in-house.
 Depending on the nature of needs and operational requirements,
training/development programs may also be implemented as job
induction, job rotation, on-the-job coaching, counselling,
individual or group projects, and secondment.

Purpose

The main objective of training and development is to help develop key

competencies that enable individuals to perform current or future jobs
successfully. In this regard, all training and development programs
organized by the Human Resources Department will be geared towards
the following objectives:

 Strengthening the job skills/knowledge of employees;

 Improving operational efficiency and productivity; and or
 Developing the potential of employees for maximizing mutual
benefit

Policy

The basic policy in administering and implementing any type of training

or development is in accordance with the strategic business objectives of
the company. The Human Resources Department will work closely with
Heads of Division/Department in assessing areas that require training
and development support.

Checklist /Milestone

 Business Name Availability Check: Completed

 Business Incorporation: Completed
 Opening of Corporate Bank Accounts: in progress
 Opening Online Payment Platforms: in progress
 Application and Obtaining Tax Payer’s ID: In Progress
 Application for business license and permit: in progress
 Purchase of Insurance for the Business: in progress
 Conducting Feasibility Studies: Completed
 Leasing, renovating and equipping our facility: in progress
 Generating part of the startup capital from the founder:
Completed
 Applications for Loan from our Bankers: In Progress
 Writing of Business Plan: Completed
 Drafting of Employee’s Handbook: in progress
 Drafting of Contract Documents: In Progress
 Design of The Company’s Logo: Completed
 Printing of Packaging and Promotional Materials: in progress
 Recruitment of employees: In Progress
 Purchase of software applications, furniture, office equipment,
electronic appliances and facility facelift: In progress
 Creating Official Website for the Company: In Progress
 Creating Awareness for the business (Business PR): In Progress
 Health and Safety and Fire Safety Arrangement: In Progress
 Establishing business relationship with banks, financial lending
institutions, vendors and key players in the industry: In Progress