How to Start a Garri Processing Business

Gari is a product obtained from processed cassava and eaten in local dishes. It comes in two varieties the white garri and yellow garri.

The white one is generally eaten as a snack by adding water, sugar or salt while the yellow garri is eaten in meals. The difference between the two variants is the presence of palm oil in the yellow garri.

Garri is common in many West African countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Togo and Benin. Some other cassava producing countries are Uganda, Malawi, India, Angola, Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand and Mozambique.

Cassava is a tropical plant abundant in most West African countries. It has many industrial and commercial applications including the production of garri.

To start garri product business you need to source startup capital and the good equipment. Most garri processing plants are fabricated and widely favored for production.

Economic importance of cassava stems from its many uses. Cassava has culinary, industrial and manufacturing applications. Cassava could be processed into bio-fuel, animal feed and other products.

The product has a huge market and attracts premium prices in the market.  Before you invest in a garri processing plant you need to learn the production technique.

Other requirements are hiring experienced staff and write a comprehensive business plan. Here are a few business ideas on how to start a garri processing business.

How to Start a Garri Processing Business

Write a Garri Processing Business Plan

You need to write a garri processing business plan to guide the enterprise. The plan should cover an executive summary, objectives of the business and mission statement.

It needs a company summary, company ownership structure, type of product and key to success. Other things in the plan are market analysis, target market, strategic segmentation and how to implement them.

You also need a sales strategy, good profit and loss account including milestones. Projecting the profit loss, break even analysis, funding and cash flow will be valuable data.

Raw Material

Cassava is the raw material you need to produce edible garri. Other additives are palm oil to produce yellow garri. Yellow garri is preferred as eba while white garri better as a snack.

How to Make Garri from Cassava

The main ingredient used in making garri is cassava flour. The farmer first uproots the tuber and peels.

The simple process continues with washing then grating or grinding. The grating process produces cassava mash.

The mash is left in a porous bag to ferment for two days. The water is the extracted and mash sieved and heat applied.

The roasting produces granular residue called garri. The entire process could be done manually or through mechanized equipment.

There are many fabricated and semi automated machinery that effectively carries out the process. In Nigeria garri processing through traditional methods is labor intensive and usually manual.

Economic Benefit of Cassava

The uses of cassava include making of ethanol bio-fuel, ingredient in animal feed and making of laundry starch. Other uses are medicinal applications, alcoholic beverages and culinary dishes.

Garri as Food

 Eba is dough produced when garri is mixed with hot water. The food is eaten with different types of sew such as Egusi, vegetable stew, oha and plain stew.

You can also eat garri as a snack by adding cold water and sugar. The light cereal is usually eaten with peanuts or groundnuts.

Machinery used to Produce Garri

Common equipment used to process garri includes cassava graters, hydraulic press, automatic garri fryer and vibrating sieves.

 Locally fabricated machinery

Cassava Peeling Machine

Cassava Shifter

Garri Fryer

Cassava Washer

Cassava Grater

Hydraulic Cassava Presser

Locating the Garri Processing Plant

Closeness to a source of raw material is important when choosing a good factory location. This effectively reduces transportation cost from and too the farm.

You need moderate space for equipment and good storage facility.  Another good location is within an open market for easier sales.

Funding the Garri Enterprise

You don’t need huge funds to start a small garri processing plant. Leverage on locally fabricated equipment and manpower. Secure funds through micro-financing, thrift savings, partnership arrangement or loans from agricultural banks.

You could try target savings or borrow from family and friends.

Marketing the Garri Product

The major consumers of garri are Nigerians. The various food and industrial applications make garri an easy sell.

Sell directly to wholesalers, retailers or private residents. You don’t need any advertisement or branding however makes people aware of your product. Make sure you produce good garri for better patronage.

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