Take These 4 Simple Steps & Start Making Money Producing Fruit Juices and Smoothies

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What makes you an agripreneur is not when you plant oranges or any other fruits, harvest, and sell them, what makes you a real agripreneur is when you transform the same oranges to a juice or mix them with other fruits to make a smoothie, package and sell and make money.

It is interesting to note that you make more money in double and triple folds when you process any agric produce, add value to it and sell compared to selling it in its natural form.

Compare the prices of raw groundnut to groundnut oil, cassava tuber to bio-fuel, roasted corn to corn-flakes etc. The difference is huge. So it is in the fruit business. You can make an immense fortune from transforming fruits to juice and smoothies, packaging them and then selling them. This is what the likes of 5 Alive, Chivita etc are doing.

Let’s say 10 pieces of oranges sell for ₦ 200. Now squeeze the same juice of that 10 pieces of this same fruits into a branded container, it will sell for ₦ 500 or more without any argument from customers.

With the daily rise in fruit wastage across the country, by going into fruit juice and smoothie production, you are not only making money but solving the problem of food wastage.

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You can focus on only one fruit e.g orange or apple or you can mix two or more fruits together to create a good blend and unique taste and flavour for your brand.

We already have some agripreneurs doing this lucrative business and smiling daily to the bank but as it is with all agric business, the sky is always wide enough for all birds to fly.

Check out @nulilounge, @mayschills on Instagram for inspiration and learning.

Another unique reason this business will sell is because of the continuous rise in awareness of healthy living. People are by all means avoiding soda drinks and industrially produced juices which in most cases have been mixed with certain chemicals in order to aid preservation.

So if you show that your fruit juices are organic and natural and you add it to your marketing strategies then be sure to have many customers and make good money.

To begin this business you need to consider the following.

First, you don’t need a farm to begin your business. There are fruit sellers and farmers all over the country. In fact, fruits are always thrown away due to spoilage and lack of storage facilities in states like Benue, Plateau and so on. What you need to do is connect with farmers who will sell to you at incredibly cheap rates.

If you can rent a space to serve your work-in customers cool but if you can’t, use your kitchen as a production room and sell online. Ensure you maintain hygiene.

Secondly, you don’t need to invest heavily in machines to begin. A good juice extractor is all you need. With business growth, you can go ahead and buy bigger machines.

You can sort and wash your fruits manually and extract. The idea is to start with very little start-up capital.

Next is your packaging. You will want to be unique and creative in this business. Use uniquely shaped bottles and beautiful label designs. Also, give your brand a name that is cool and relatable.

Lastly, marketing your products is very important. Utilize social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook for your marketing. Learn from what people are saying about your products and be ready to make changes and improve it where necessary.

Getting certain licences of operation from bodies such as NAFDAC is important, however, they are not compulsory when you are just starting and testing the waters but when you want to expand you will need to carry out necessary registration.

With all these necessary things put in place, your juice and smoothie production business is good to go.