Plantain chips production - Tips to Make Money in Nigeria

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Posted by Felix Okoli on Tuesday June 19, 2012 9:55:19:

I wrote a previous food business article highlighting the importance of food to Nigerians and why it is a good form of business that can generate money in the long term. People will always patronize food products, even in times of poverty or austerity but we have not reached that point yet in Nigeria, so why not invest more now? This is the kind of business that can make you N1m if you can produce 20,000 packaged chips.

Plantain chips
What are plantain chips? You know plantains right? They are starchy plant fruits that come from the banana family and grow all year round. It grows abundantly in West Africa and is a good source of income for farmers.

I remember during my NYSC year in a village, the only snack I knew they sold that most corpers buy was plantain chips. This was because it was fresh and besides it was preserved in form of chips. The thing about harvested plantains is that the price tends to go down as it stays unsold for long. So sellers prefer to sell it before it gets ripe and rotten. So one of the best ways of preserving plantains is by dehydrating it either by frying or solar drying.

Plantain chips are simply dehydrated plantain chips that have been fried and are crunchy when eaten. In most cities like Lagos, Benin or Abuja, this snack is a hot seller and a hunger quencher. You can hardly lose money if you invest in plantain chips production.

Although, a lot of people may say this is a woman's business since it involves cooking food but you as a man can also invest in it without really doing the work involved and still make money.

Things you will need
- Raw plantains (Ripe or unripe)
- Small hard packaging bags (for 50g chips)
- Frying oil
- Deep fryer (Special form of frying pot)
- Sauces
- Sticker logo (To be stuck on the packaging bags)
- Impulse sealer

Process involved in plantain chip production
- Peeling off the hard skin
- Cutting the plantain into small chip sizes
- Add some sauce to the chips such as salt, curry, onion juice, pepper and as you like.
- Adding oil to the deep fryer and heat
- Add the plantain chips when the fryer is ready
- Fry until all moisture is evaporated
- Take chips off the pan
- Allow chips to cool down in a freezer or fridge
- Begin packaging into the 50g bags
- Seal the bags with the impulse sealer

Now you can begin marketing your product

Branded plantain chips
There are several things you can do to your plantain chips product that can help you capture a specific category of people in the market.

You can produce plantain chips that are:

Sugar free: You will need to make use of unripe plantains for this one. You see this kind of chips as the yellowish or white ones and produced without adding sugar. Diabetic and older people prefer these kind of chips

Salt free: You can produce plantain chips without adding salt to it and some people prefer it like that.

Sweet: These are mostly the ripe plantains that are darker in colour. Most young people prefer sweet plantain chips

Salty: These are the ones that are produce with some salt in them. Most plantain chips have salt added to them but you should know when to add a little or more.

So whichever brand of production you use, try to indicate it on on the sticker to that buyers know what they are buying and they are more likely to keep buying the one they love.

Do a bit of market review and see which brand sells more and focus more on it for better profits.

Plantain chips preservation
This product needs to be thoroughly dehydrated if one wants to make it last longer. Some plantain chips that are soft most likely still have moisture in them and so may not have much shelf life so it's good to fry the plantains till there is no water in them again,

Selling your plantain chips
Plantain chips are a hot commodity in Nigeria and the price has even gone up to N50 and N100 depending on the packaging. You can sell it for N100 if you package it well like say 100g. Where to sell or distribute your product now is what matters.
If you are into major production, you just need sellers who are into retail business such as provision stores, shopping malls and so on. There are chain of stores that accept small business to display and sell their food products and they just pay you when all your items have been sold.

You can also get people who are into hawking to buy in wholesale from you to resell to the public. So you just need to reach out to end retailers and you will have a good market for your business. You can as well sell it yourself if you have a store.

Some terms
Deep fryer: This is a special type of frying basin that allows you to fry floating food inside the oil and not on top. It allows for deep frying in the sense that the chips which normally float in an ordinary frying pan will now be fried beneath the oil since a lid forces them down into the oil

Impulse sealer: This is simply a manual sealing machine that seals polyethylene bags when pressed down. You can use it to seal the ends of your packaging bag. They are available at electronic shops.

Comments:

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by sandra on Tuesday July 24, 2012 at 17:20:20:

thanks for this info. God bless u, it has helped me alot.

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by Babatunde modupeola on Saturday August 4, 2012 at 11:19:33:

A well understood write up. Am into d biz and av also benefitted frm u. More strenght to ur elbow

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by sirajo musa on Thursday August 23, 2012 at 9:0:9:

I thank you for your plain truth and insight. I will try it

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by henry Uzoechi on Sunday October 21, 2012 at 22:35:48:

Pls send me recent complete business plan for Plantain chips etc

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by kevin ikem on Friday February 1, 2013 at 14:56:11:

thanks for the write up. please need more details on the impulse sealer,how much does it go for? which is the best brand? where do i get the polythene bags? thank you

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by Felix Okoli on Tuesday September 24, 2013 at 11:42:6:

Impulse sealers vary in size and I think the 8 inch ones sell for about N6000 in Nigeria. You can get polythene bags from extrusion or polythene producing industries. There are many of them in Lagos.

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by debby on Thursday November 7, 2013 at 18:1:15:

Pls I'll like to know what price is usually given to d retailer.

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by Felix Okoli on Thursday November 7, 2013 at 18:1:15:

It depends on your cost of production. In Lagos for example, it sells at about N100 per pack and you can simply give it to them at say N60 or N70.

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by Gloria Ikenazor on Monday January 6, 2014 at 16:6:50:

How can one get customers to buy the plamtain chips

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by Felix Okoli on Monday January 6, 2014 at 16:6:50:

Try marketing. Spread the word. Get your own store if possible. You can make adverts, talk to contacts and those you see actually selling it in their stores.

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by omoshalewa on Thursday January 30, 2014 at 8:23:20:

God bless your for this vital infoormation.but pls i tried frying the unripe plantain but it got soft the following day,even though i kept it in a container. Pls i need your advice because i intend going into this business full time.Thanks

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by Felix Okoli on Thursday January 30, 2014 at 8:23:20:

There are 2 possible reason I think. Perhaps it absorbed moisture. Did you put in uncovered in a fridge? It may also be because you didn't deepfry it dry enough.

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by Hope Esharegharan on Sunday February 2, 2014 at 14:11:36:

Dear Felix okoli, I love your article on a deep business insight in a little way up to a financial greatness, though, I want to have my own plantation farm, and at the same time produce my own chips, targeting a million customers all over the country, probably weekly or monthly. And I envisage the possibility of selling my chips (100g) for 50 naira, with good packaging. Is there any possibility for me succeeding if I put the right logistic in place? my email address, princehopee@gmail.com

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by Felix Okoli on Sunday February 2, 2014 at 14:11:36:

Ofcourse you can succeed. Just get to know your market and how to target it.

Re: Plantain chips production Posted by owolabi oluwatosin on Monday June 2, 2014 at 17:20:51:

Thanks....to you all.....but please am about starting this business... I have advertise to those who sells chips and supermarkets and there av interest....but the problem is I don't know which plantain to be use for crunchier and spicy plantain chip....all equipment's are ready...(nylon,labels,packing bags,sealing machine,etc)..the question is how will it looks like if I use unripe(green) or ripe plantain....please. I need fast answers

Re: Plantain chips production Posted by Felix Okoli on Monday June 2, 2014 at 17:20:51:

I know it's the unripe ones that are more crispy

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by Naomi on Saturday October 4, 2014 at 13:9:31:

I fry nd distrbute u can contact me to start for u nd u could learn from it too.I mean I fry quality plaintain chips nd distribute in my town.08056971095

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by obi martinz on Friday November 7, 2014 at 20:27:45:

thanks for your info abt the plantain chips business.is there any machine one can use to mass produce plantain chips.

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by Felix Okoli on Friday November 7, 2014 at 20:27:45:

Yes, they are. You can get them from China or USA. You may also check for it at outlets of any automatic machine importers in Nigeria.

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by emmanuel valentine on Monday December 1, 2014 at 9:44:43:

This is a nice business insight. Pls does It need nafdac reg number?

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by Felix Okoli on Monday December 1, 2014 at 9:44:43:

In the long term, you are going to need NAFDAC number but for a startup, you may not need it but you should plan for it.

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by funke Akinsiku on Friday December 12, 2014 at 10:16:31:

I am more inspired by your steps into the business.l have tried it at a time but after few days d taste changes in d mouth not fresh again. I want to know why and why l need to put it in d fridge or freezer to cool down.

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by Felix Okoli on Friday December 12, 2014 at 10:16:31:

If it was really well dried as chips, then it will last longer and less likely to change taste.

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by Umar Ni'hma on Friday December 19, 2014 at 8:50:52:

Hi Felix, thanks for the great job. Pls I would like to know the importance of cooling the fried chips in the freezer before packaging.
thanks

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by Felix Okoli on Friday December 19, 2014 at 8:50:52:

If you pack it while it's hot, it might cause the bag to be bloated and full of steam. Allowing it to cool ensures that water vapour has totally escaped.

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by ruth isaac on Thursday February 5, 2015 at 10:36:57:

Thanks so much for this insight,God bless you.pls,will like to know if you will spread the sliced plantain in the sun before frying or after frying in order for it to be cripsy.

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by Felix Okoli on Thursday February 5, 2015 at 10:36:57:

it will be crispy if you use a deep frying machine. It's an electronic device.

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by Ann on Friday March 20, 2015 at 16:29:46:

Plaintain chips marketers are needed around ipaja axis.Contact me on 08117671484

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by chizzyfoods on Thursday January 28, 2016 at 24:28:37:

Thanks for the sauce .but pls how long does it last.and pls what is the actual thing used for preserving it.i make sure the water was dried up but still it still changing taste

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by Felix Okoli on Thursday January 28, 2016 at 24:28:37:

You can also yes a dehydrator to ensure that it is totally dried. Every packaged plantain chips has a shelf life and you'd need to keep testing to know how long yours can last based on your preservation method used.

Re: Plantain chips production Reply by AMARACHI on Friday August 24, 2018 at 2:15:33:

What if after frying it, its allowed to cool down without putting it in the freezer, will it still come out well for packaging and last?

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