PRODUCING SIMSIM AND GROUND NUT PASTE

• Manufacturing

Introduction

Groundnuts paste is made from grounding fried groundnuts into a paste. The paste is used as a source stew to accompany food. It is many times mixed with other sources or mixed directly into food. It
makes soup heavy, and tastes nice. It may also be used or pasted on bread and be used instead of butter. This proposal will produce a safe product using stainless steel machinery unlike the present products produced using cast-iron equipment which end up laced with materials likely to cause cancer to those eating it. About 200 to 300 kgs of groundnuts can be processed daily. An investment capital of US$1500 would sufficiently start up this project.

Production Capacity, Technology and Process

The process begins with the cleaning and sorting of the sun- dried shelled groundnuts. Thereafter, the nuts are fried briefly so that they can make a paste and to give a good taste. It is then put into the grinding machine for processing into a paste and packed in plastic containers .The process is quite simple and fast and a substantial amount can be processed in a day with modest equipment within a
small space.

Market Analysis

There is a ready market for the paste and outlets are spread all over because this is a house hold item consumed throughout the year. It is stocked in markets, provisional shops and supermarkets etc. This
activity is carried out on small scale especially in major markets and trading centres.

Capital Investment Requirements in US$

Item	Units	Qty	Unit cost	total
Stainless Grinding Machine	No	1	750	750
Sealing Machine	No	1	100	100
Furniture	No	0	200	200
Weighing Scale	No	1	100	100
Bicycle	No	1	50	50
Plastic drum	No	2	15	30
Ladels	No	4	3	12
Total	1,242

 

Production and Operating Costs
Direct materials, Supplies and Costs in US$

Cost Item	Units	Unit Cost	Qty /day	Prod Cost/day	Prod Cost/month	Prod Cost/yr
Direct Costs
Groundnuts	Kgs	1.65	200	330	8,580	102,960
Simsim	Kgs	1.7	100	170	4,420	53,040
Packaging materials	Pcs	0.43	300	129	3,354	40,248
Sub-total	600	629	16,354	196,248
General Costs (Overheads)
Rent	75	900
Labour	200	2,400
Selling and Distribution	90	1,080
Cleaning and Toiletries	65	780
Miscellaneous	50	600
Depreciation	26	311
Sub-total	506	6,071
Total Operating Costs	16,860	202,319

 

1)    Production costs assumed 312 days per year with daily capacity of producing 300kgs of paste.

2)     Depreciation (fixed asset write off) assumes 4-years life of assets written off at 25% per year for all assets.

3)     Direct costs include materials, supplies and other costs that directly go into production of the product.

4)     Total monthly days assumed are 26-days.

5)    The valuation currency used is United States Dollars.

Project Product Costs and Price Structure

Item	Qty/ day	Qty/yr	Unit Cost	Prod Cost/yr	Unit Price	Total Revenue
G/nut and Simsim Paste	300	93,600	2.16	202,319	3	280,800

 

Profitability Analysis Table

Item	Per day	Per month	Per year
Revenue	900	23,400	280,800
Less: Production and Operating Costs	648	16,860	202,319
Profit	252	6,540	78,482