How To Start Garri Processing And Packaging Business In Nigeria

Garri is a popular staple food in Nigeria. Most people eat it every day, and the demand for it is high and steady. Additionally, garri is also a popular food item among Nigerians in the diaspora, creating an opportunity for export. Garri’s market is also helped by the growing need for ready-to-eat and quick foods, which has led to the creation of packaged and processed Garri products. The garri processing and packaging industry in Nigeria is quite big and presents an important business opportunity for creative and young entrepreneurs in the country.

Here are the steps to starting a garri processing and packaging business in Nigeria.

Develop a Business Plan

A business plan is the first and most important step in launching any successful business, and it can help you with the following:

1. Do Market Research: It is important to do thorough market research to learn as much as possible about the industry, target market, consumer needs, and competition. 
2. It helps to understand your target market, which includes households both in Nigeria and in the diaspora, their demographics, and their purchasing abilities.
3. You understand customer needs and preferences, including packaging, flavor, and product quality.
4. It lets you analyse your competition and see what they are doing differently, both large and small, including their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and this will help you fill the vacuum.

Our ready-made business plan helps with creating a solid business plan for your organisation. Get it here.

Obtaining Capital

You need capital to start and run a successful business. Thinking of going into any business without the required capital is a step that will end in failure. Having said that, you need to identify potential sources of capital, which include:

1. Your personal savings
2. Support from family and friends
3. loans from commercial banks
4. investors
5. government grant
6. Partnership

Apart from your personal funds, it will be difficult to convince anybody to provide funds for your business if you can’t explain how they will be used and possibly the benefits of investing in such a business. That’s why you need a business plan; it will help you convince people to provide the needed funds for the business.

A business plan also clarifies the roadmap for the operation of the business, which will likely increase your chances of getting funding.

Our Garri Business Plan with 3 Years Fiancial Projections will help you

Setup The Production Facility

You need a production facility, and you must identify a good location for it. Here are some important tips that will help you:

1. Your production facility must be located where it is easy to access raw materials.
2. Close to the target market.
3. You will need to identify and purchase the required equipment for production or consider renting or leasing.
4. Hire and train the right employees that will assist in the production and also identify clear job roles.

Procurement and Processing of Raw Materials

Casava is the raw material for garri processing and packaging, and you can source it from cassava farms and reputable dealers. You need to establish a good relationship with your suppliers for the sake of good prices and timely delivery of the materials.

To ensure your final products meet the quality standard, you must follow the required processing procedure using the right machinery and highly trained staff.

Packaging and Distribution

Once your Garri product is ready, the next step is to invest in quality packaging so that it can be attractive to your customers, pass the necessary information, and protect the products. Make sure the packaging has your company’s name, logo, and contact information, as well as details about the product, such as its weight, ingredients, and expiration date.

After packaging, your garri must be stored in a clean, dry warehouse with the proper temperature and humidity to protect the quality and keep it fresh. Also, the storage facility must always be in good condition to prevent the products from spoiling.

Distribution is next; this is very critical, and without it, your Garri won’t get to market or establish contact and relationships with supermarkets, stores, and whole-traders that may be interested in your products. Make sure you establish agreements and terms with your distributors, including, pricing, minimum order quantity, and payment terms.

Once you have agreements with the distributors, it’s time to ensure the products get to them. You can hire a logistics company to handle this, rent a delivery vehicle, or setup one in-house.

marketing and Promotion

Without good marketing and promotion, nobody will know you and eventually buy from you. Your business plan will help you identify your target market and create the right marketing strategy.

You can utilise both online and offline marketing techniques to promote your product, and the following tips will help you:

1. Leverage social media marketing.
2. Get your own business website and invest in SEO to gain visibility and drive organic traffic.
3. Create and publish regular, unique, and engaging content on the blog section of your website.
4. Invest in paid advertisement campaigns. With a minimum of $5 per day, you can reach thousands of people on both Google, Facebook, and Instagram.
5. Invest in influencer marketing.
6. Advertise on radio, TV, magazines, and newspapers if your company has the capacity.

Conclusion

Garri processing and packaging is a profitable business venture, and if you do it well enough, it can open doors to endless daily cashflow, making you a millionaire within a few years. But you need the right knowledge and strategy to be successful, which is why we created this blog post for you.

Drop a comment below and discuss with us.

Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!