Steps to Produce Starch in Nigeria

Are you looking for how to start cassava starch production in Nigeria? If yes, read this guide. Here in this post, we are going to guide you on the steps to produce starch in Nigeria.

This is a complete cassava starch production process here in Nigeria. We hope you find this article both useful and informative.

Business Overview of Produce Starch in Nigeria

The use of starch in Nigeria cannot be underrated, as people use it a lot to add to their washing to make the clothes look good.

Read Also: Problems And Prospects Of Cassava Production In Nigeria

Every day it is used by various families to make their clothes look better. Even the students especially love to wear clothes with a touch of starch on it.

Just like when I was in school, I hardly wore a shirt that was not starched, which made me to buy a bottle of cold water starch then every month.

I was not the only one into this, almost all the guys in my department wore starched clothes to lectures, which made it a trend back then in school, to wear starched clothes.

Now you can guess how much we spent every month on starch for our clothes and how much the sellers made from the sale of cold water starch which is the most prominent form of starch in use. Looking at all this fact you get to see that the business of starch is actually a business.

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Profitability

Just take for instance in my example, the number of people in my department that used starch on their clothes and then how much the sellers do make from the sale of cold water starch especially.

You are sure to make good sales every month due to the demand of people for starch. There are many users of starch in the country which makes it a profitable venture for anyone who is looking for something to do for an extra income. All you have to do is to manage your cost of production to make a good profit after sales.

Popular Producers of starch

There are people who make starch by themselves and sell to those who want, there is the hot water starch which is locally processed but it is not totally acceptable in the market due to the stress to use it.

The most popular and acceptable form of starch is the cold water starch. We all know of RENEW cold water starch which is popularly used by everyone due to its small pack and its affordable price and the ease of use.

There is also the E-PRESS cold water starch which is costly due to its pack and also the effectiveness maybe but it is also easy to use too as the renew starch. These two products are the most popular forms of starch in the market now.

Opportunities in the market

Due to the fact that many people are in need of starch in Nigeria gives you a great opportunity in the market to start up your own starch production and grow your product from scratch so you can be listed as among the popular producers of starch.

If it is not on a daily basis then it is on a weekly basis that various individuals use starch on their clothes, so there is a good chance of you making it with this opportunity in the market.

Read Also: How To Start Food Processing Business In Nigeria

Target Market and Competition

The targets of this product in the market are families, any working class individual and even dry cleaners. Dry cleaners do need starch to make their customer’s clothes stand out and make it look attractive, so they are among the targets of the starch product. Families an working class individuals do need starch to make their clothes look outstanding with a great look.

Competition is inevitable in any business unless you just started the business as virgin business, so you should expect some competition from the other producers already in the market.

It is a tough challenge but there is always room for a new comer, it all depends on the credibility of your starch, if it gives a nice scent and makes clothes look great and also giving the required starch effect that is supposed to be given on any cloth, then you are going to get a good bunch of customers.

Now you may want to know the process or the means of making the starch, let us get into the real business:

Steps to produce Starch

There are some few things to get for you to produce this product.

1. Knowledge/Experience

You need to know how it is made to be able to produce this product. You can get to approach any factory where starch is being produced to get a firsthand experience of how starch is produced and packaged. Or you can get to the locally producers and get their own skill and improve on it to make your own better.

2. Raw Materials needed

You will need to get a few raw materials for you to commence production. I am sure you do know that starch is gotten from mostly cassava. So it is an extract of raw cassava, so for you to get your materials to produce starch, the ingredients needed to make starch are;

a. Cassava

b. PVA (Polivenol acetate)

c. Water

d. Fragrance (perfume)

e. Preservatives

You will have to extract the raw starch from the cassava as that extract from the cassava is the main component of cold water starch.

The PVA is also an extract of starch source. It is white and solid. It helps to bind the starch together.

Your fragrance or perfume is to make the cloth smell nice after the whole starching of the cloth is done.

Read Also: Cassava Processing Business in Nigeria

3. Equipments needed

For the production of starch, there are just a few equipments which you will need to make your starch, which are:

a. A boiler

b. Mixer

c. Dissolution pot and

d. Weighing scale

Actually these equipments are required if you would like to go into commercial production, but if you just want to do it from your home, all you need is a big bowl for you to do your mixture and then you go ahead to package it as you like.

4. Procedure

Before we delve into the real procedure, you have to extract your starch from the raw cassava.  For you to do that you have to

a. Peel your cassava

b. Rinse and wash it with cold water

c. Cut into small pieces and then grind it

d. Separate the chaff from the cassava; wash it thoroughly till the chaff has been washed off.

e. Allow the starch to settle for some hours, and then your starch extract from the cassava is ready.

Now you are ready for the real starch making.

f. Mix the cassava extract with warm water and allow it to dissolve completely

g. Allow the mixture to cool

h. Dilute your PVA with water first, then you can add your polivenol acetate and turn it and add it to the first mixture.

j. After mixing you can then add your fragrance or perfume with your preservative and your starch is ready.

This procedure is for home made production, but if you want to go commercial with the equipments listed, you will have to get prior knowledge from a starch producing company. But with this you can start producing your own starch and package and sell.

Read Also: How to Start a Food Processing Company in Nigeria

5. Location

You have to choose a place which is close to your popular customers, where it will be easy to reach your customers and they can reach you easily too sell and market your products.

6. Funding

The funds you may need for this business will not be too expensive as you can easily get them close to your neighbourhood, cassava from the farm may be the only thing that may cost you money due to the way farm produce are getting expensive.

Unless you will be able to plant cassava and harvest it for your cassava, but producing your starch will not cost you more than #50,000, packaging included.

7. Business name registration

You have to get a registration for your starch making business from the corporate affairs commission. It will not cost you more than #10,000 to get registered. You need to get your business registered as it is stipulated in Nigeria laws.

8. Packaging and Marketing

Since your starch is in liquid form, you will have to get a thick leather packaging or use a bottle to hold the starch. So you have to get a good bottle with a good label to show that it is starch. You can start selling from your home and gather as much customers as you can from your neighbourhood.

Conclusion

Now you can produce starch by yourself without the bother of purchasing outside, you can produce it to your satisfaction with your desired results.

With the way the economy of the country is going, we all need to learn some things we can do by ourselves without going to the market.

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