Idea 7 of 52 - Mango - Value addition + Storage
From February through to April
seems to be the period the Mango trees produce their juicy succulent naturally
sweet fruit. The Mango trees are also abundantly present in various states in
Nigeria.
The
Mango fruit is high in nutrients, rich in taste and flavor and is a favorite
fruit for some people, but there are some challenges to face in its
growth-harvest-market cycle. They include; attack of microorganisms, short
shelf life, poor handling during transportation and storage.
1.
The Idea
1). Transportation
There
are villages or locations with loads of Mango trees. If one can identify these
locations, and charters a truck to transport the mango fruits from where they
are in abundance to the market where other retailers could buy, then one would
make a cut for logistics (middle man) services provided.
2). Storage
Due
to the short shelf life, ripe mangoes that don’t make it to the end consumers
on time would go bad and be wasted. One can set up a Business around buying the
unripe mangoes, keeping it, and storing it in a way that would increase its
shelf life, so that in 4-6 months time when the most of the Mangoes are out of
the Market, the stored Mango fruits could be released and sold at premium price.
Tips
for storage
- To freeze: (1) Wash, peel and slice mangoes; (2) Place mango slices in a single layer on cookie tray in freezer; (3) Once slices are frozen, transfer to airtight containers or heavy-duty freezer bags and return to freezer.
- Freezer time shown is for best quality only — foods kept constantly frozen at 0° F will keep safe indefinitely.
Storage in Refrigerator will increase the shelf life
by 5-7 days when ripe while freezers can preserve the mango fruits for 10-12
months
3). Mango Smoothie
Instead of leaving Mango fruit to ripen and get bad,
one could add value by making a smoothie drink, packaging it and selling it.
Here is a recipe for Mango Smoothie by -Sarah Copeland
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped ripe mango
- 1/2 cup low-fat milk
- 1/2 cup ice
- 1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
- 1 tablespoon honey
Directions
- Place the mango, milk, ice, yogurt, and honey in a blender.
- Blend until smooth and frothy.
Idea
Summary
i. Logistics
- Look for Mango farmers or locations with large concentrations of mango trees.
- Search for Markets or Mango fruit retailers
- Get in touch with them, and find out the quantity they would need.
- Be sure to know the quantity you can supply.
- Rent/Buy a truck for the transportation (logistics)
- Agree on price with the farmers, and the Retailers.
- Charge your logistics, sufficient enough for running cost and a reasonable profit
- Collect from the Mango fruit farmers, supply to Market
ii. Mango Smoothie (bottled and
labeled)
- Look for Mango farmers or locations with large concentrations of mango trees.
- Search for Markets for your packaged smoothie (Shoprite, Spar, etc.)
- Get in touch with them, and find out the quantity they would need and how much you can produce and supply.
- Arrange for your delivery to them (logistics).
- Fix your price for your smoothies, sufficient enough for running cost and a reasonable profit
- Collect from the Mango fruit farmers, make your Packaged Mango smoothie, supply to Stores.
2. The Business
- Value Proposition: Logistics service for Mango fruit farmers, ease of transportation of harvested Mango fruits to market. Packaged (bottled) Mango Smoothie.
- Customer Segment: Mango retailers at markets, departmental stores.
- Distribution Channels: Vans/trucks, or other vehicles that can transport the harvested Mango fruits or the produced Mango smoothie.
- Customer Relationship: Direct
- Key Activities: Selling, Food processing, negotiating, food products logistics, customer service, delivery etc.
- Key Resources: Truck, Workforce (driver, drivers mate, etc.), Food processing assistants, Sales team
- Key Partners: Mango retailers, Mango Fruit Farmers, Government regulatory agencies, Traders and Food Manufacturing Associations, 3rd party logistics etc.
- Cost Structure: Truck purchase or rental, Staff pay, work related equipment, licenses (NAFDAC) and registration, etc. Be sure to understand all the cost implications before going into this.
- Revenue Stream: Payment for logistics service + Sales of Mango Smoothies
3. Competition
Mango trees can be found in many
cities and villages in Nigeria, and just as you can go into any of the
Businesses highlighted here (logistics, Storage or Mango smoothie), so can
others. This increases the possibility of more competition for your Business.
So stay competitive, you would need to work on having a strong competitive
advantage, whether in quality of service delivery (product made), lower prices
or just serving a niche location.
4.
Risks
Seasonal fruit – can prolong shelf
life as highlighted earlier.
Storage should be rightly done or
the Mango fruits could go bad or lose nutrients
Poor handling during
transportation can damage the fruit.
Government intervention (Policies
+ taxes)
Summary
We have
discussed how you could take advantage of this seasonal Mango fruit to create a
Business either through transporting the fruits to the retailers or where they
can be processed, storing them for later sales months later, or processing and
packaging your own Mango smoothie brand.
So
until next week, Stay inspired…
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