How to Start A Potatoes Chips Business
Potato Chips Business is amongst the lucrative small-scale businesses people can start even from their homes. Potato chips are crispy and crunchy slices of potato which are fried in oil and preserved with salt. The potato slice is dehydrated when fried in oil; this adds to its crunchiness.
Potato chips are a very interesting creation; it adds more value to potato. The popularity of consuming potato chips as snacks is increasing and all age group enjoys it. Well, especially those with teeth. Potato chips are made in various flavour and taste, with an alluring shape and texture, this adds to its uniqueness.
Potential of Potato Chips Making Business (Market Opportunity)
India happens to be the largest potato crop growing country; about 12.5 million potatoes are grown in India, which is 5% of total potato grown in worldwide. However, one drawback of is that the potato is usually soiled because of the transportation, storage system, as well as several other environmental changes.
The potato is preserved using many preservation methods, and the production of potato chips is one of them. Even though Potato chips are one of India’s traditional foods, it still has to be produced through scientific and hygienic methods.
The demand for potato chips is high in both the urban and rural areas. Most people these days, prefer instant meals and potato chips has made the hassle of deciding what to eat easier, cause for a snack it quickly eliminates hunger.
Potato chips are healthy as no toxic ingredient is used in preparing it, and its popularity added to its availability, now, it can be easily be bought from every shop. So after considering all the factors involved in starting this business, starting this business is undoubtedly a great idea. Moreover, it only needs a little startup, plus the advantage of making it in your home if you don’t have a place for the production process.
Registrations & Licenses Required for Potato Chips Factory
Potato chips production business is placed in the category of the food production industry, so you have to settle some paperwork before starting the potato chips making business.
- Registration of Firm: You can start the small to medium scale processing unit either as a Proprietorship or Partnership Firm. But if you plan on starting this Potato Chips business as One Person Company, then you should register your firm as a proprietorship. But as a Partnership operation, you need to register as a limited liability partnership (LLP) or Pvt. Ltd. Company with Registrar of Companies (ROC).
- GST Registration: You have to obtain a GST number which is mandatory for every business owner.
- Trade License: Apply for tread license
- MSME/SSI Registration: MSME registration will enable you to acquire all subsidies and another facility that offer by a state government
- Trade Mark: Defiantly you create your brand and company name. Therefore, you need to protect your brand and name by obtaining a trademark license
- Food Safeties and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI): Undoubtedly, you are fully aware that Potato chips production is a food industry; hence you need permission from the FSSAI.
- IEC code: Furthermore, if you have plans of exporting your potato chips, you need to apply for the IEC code.
Area required for Potato Chips Making (Location)
The triumph of this business depends on the location by implication; hence there is a need for you to pick your location wisely. The best location for potato chips making business is one nearer to both the raw materials and the target market.
A 1000 sq ft space is adequate for this business; ensure that the area has essential facilities like electricity, water supply, and drainage facility. Starting the Potato Chips Making Business from your home will save you part of the capital investment, making the startup process more affordable.
Nevertheless, while starting the business from home, you need to make sure the location adheres to the rule that was given by the state government. In case your state government stated certain restrictions; like cooking other meals in the location of the business isn’t allowed or pets aren’t allowed in that location; in summary, ensure that you are eligible for the home-based business.
Raw Materials required for Potato Chips Business
Potato is the base material in the potato chips production business, but you need to choose your potato carefully. Additionally, to buy your potatoes at a cheaper rate, we suggest you buy yours directly from the farmers.
You should know that the quality of your chips depends on the quality of the raw material you used in the preparation, more reason you must make sure that the raw material you buy is of high quality. Don’t forget you need to procure the material to you’ll use in packaging your product; this will be used in protecting, preserving and also selling the potato chips.
Here’s a hint for picking the best potatoes, while choosing potatoes do a quick inspection, take slices of random potatoes and check if it’s the quality you need or vice versa.
Considering the nature of this business, you should have a raw material supplier that will always supply the raw materials, someone reliable, that’ll help you stay prepared for common situations that may arise such as scarcity of raw material.
If this is the case, then you’ll have a backup for this. Moreso buying raw materials in advance are helpful.
Here are the raw materials needed for the production of potato chips:
- Edible Oil: This is to the fry potato slices
- Flavour & Spices: This is used to produce delicious chips with different tastes.
- Packaging Material: This is used to pack the prepared potato chips for marketing and sales; it also helps in protecting and preserving it.
- Potato: This is used to make the chips itself; it can be sliced mechanically with hands or using machinery.
- Salt: This is an essential ingredient in almost every meal prepared; it’ll add to the taste of the chips. I’m
Machinery used for Potato Chips Manufacturing
The potato chips can be made through two methods either as semi-automatic or fully-automatic methods.
List of machinery needed for potato chips manufacturing
- Plastic Trays
- Dewatering Machine
- Batch Fryer
- Vacuum Sealing Machine
- Salting Drum With Inert Gas Flushing Unit
- Slicing Machine (With Arrangement To Adjust Slice Thickness)
- Weighing Scales, Dispensers, And Fillers
- Spice/Flavoring Coating Machine
- Stainless Steel Working Tools
- Washing and Peeling Machine
- Spin Dryer/Hydro Extractor
Washing and Peeling Machine: the first step in potato chips production is the washing and peeling off the potato, the washing and peeling machine can perform this task very effectively.
The potato is then feed placed in the drum where water flows continuously; afterwards, the sharp edge blade helps in peeling the potato.
Cutting Machine:
The next step is the cutting process of the potato into equal slices, and the cutting plates are mounted over the cutting machine that helps in slicing the potato-based on the size of preferences, there is an advance option in the cutting machine where you can adjust the potato slices size and pattern.
- This machine needs to be cleaned daily; the cutting machine comprises of stainless steel, which can be cleaned easily. This helps to easily clean and sanitary machine.
- Blanching machine: a blanching machine is used in boiling the potato slices for a short time. This helps in removing dirt and bacteria; it also gives the potato slices a brighter colour.
- Packaging Machine: You will need the help of the packaging machine to pack the processed chips; you can make use of alluring packets for packaging.
Additionally, packaging bags are used as a means of advertising the brand by printing the user-friendly information; the alluring packaging will help you in attracting customers.
Manufacturing Processes of Potato Chips Business
- Sorting Potatoes: When potato arrives at the production plant, they get examined and sorted based on the quality of potato, the large oval and disease-free potatoes are used for the chips, while the Green edge and blemish potato are being separated from the useful potatoes. The rejected potato is then weighted with the weight machine, afterwards if the weight of the defected potatoes is exceeding those chosen then the whole potato stock will be rejected.
- Washing & Peeling: The selected potatoes are then passed through the water spray container where potato is washed with cold water and ready to be peeling The peeling process is occurs with the help of a peeling machine. However, it can also be done manually (with hands).
- Slicing: After the peeling process, the potato is cut into uniform slices of about 1.7-1.85 mm thick with the aid of the slicing machine, and then the slices are placed in cold water. Potato slices are placed in water with 0.05% potassium Meta bi-sulphate to prevent oxidation or the removal of starch.
- Blanching: Having completed slicing process, the potatoes are blanched for 4 to 5 minutes in boiling water with the aid of a blanching machine and being spread on a tray then the non-uniform slices are distinguished and separated from the batch hence the remaining slices can now be fried.
- Drying & Frying: The moisture content of the potato slices is extracted using the spin dryer or hydro extractor; after that, the slices are fried in a fryer at 1900 degree Celsius for about minutes. Later, they are stored in a container to cool and remove excess oil due to preceding frying process.
- Flavouring: Immediately the fried chips are cooled, Flavors are then added to the potato chips to give it the preferred taste with the aid of salting and flavouring drum.
- Packing: After the production method is completed, the potato chips are now ready for packaging. The potato chips are packed into the plastic pouch with the aid of the sealing machine and later packed into the carton boxes to be delivered to the clients and customers.
- Where to Sell: Local market (retail market, Locate the nearby market so that you can have where to offer your potato chips. Search your neighbourhood hotels and restaurant, contact many chefs and restaurants. And notify them about your potato chips.
- Wholesale market: You can also sell your potato chips in your city wholesale market in bulk.
Online market:
B2B Websites:
You can register your Potato Chips business on B2B websites such as:
- Alibaba
- India mart
- Trade India
- Exporters India, Etc.
This is where you can sell your product on bulk orders.
B2C Websites:
Register your Potato Chips business on B2C websites such as
- Amazon
- Flipkart
- Snapdeal
- Bigbasket Etc.
In these sites, you can sell your product directly to the customers.
Brand and Uniqueness
Generally, branding is the ultimate strategy for any business startup, however, in the potato chips production business implementing this strategy is quite difficult because many popular brands have already captured the market
You have to initiate a new flavor that will give your unique identity, come up with a unique flavor. While marketing your products, try to study your competitors, analyze the competition and do a plane for advertising your brand.
You can also notify event organizers, attend parties and other events with the so purpose of advertising your potato chips, you can try giving them a free sample for taste. Ensure you leave the promoting material on the event venue so that everyone can get informed about your product so that if like your chips, they would easily contact you and place their orders.
Aside from all the conventional method of promoting one’s product, online promotion is also a very efficient and effective method of launching one’s brand. You can start your digital store where you can sell your product, or you can collaborate with another hosting site to help you with selling and also introduce your product to their customers.
Marketing ideas for Potato Chips Business
The success of a potato chips business producer doesn’t depend only on demand and supply only. What count are how much profit you’re making and also the increase in the sales of your product? This will help you know if new customers are also buying your chips. To get to this point, you need to market the business effectively and make the most of it.
How to Promote Your Potato Chips Business
One ideal way of making your potato chips business very popular is by posting numerous banners and signboards in several locations, especially in those places that are usually visited by people. This method will advertise your business more efficiently compared to other options for promotion.
Local distributors also have a major role to play as long as it concerns promoting your business. The only thing is to be willing to cooperate and work them.
Coming up with a peculiar name and designing an awesome logo for your company is of utmost importance. This would lessen the stress and burden involved in promoting your business.
Business directories are another nice way of promoting your business. Ensure your potato chips business is enlisted in the business directories. Furthermore, distributing flyers with all the vital information about your business is another effective method of promoting your business.
Here are nine ways of marketing your business effectively;
Create Buzz
Even though this happens to be among the myths in the world of marketing, when it concerns a product like potato chips, for instance, creating a buzz around the product you intend selling is important as it would help it sell better. Word of mouth very well escalates into direct sales and brings your brand in the forefront.
To market your product efficiently, you can create this buzz by communicating with the customer base via social media and several other media and starting meaningful conversations with them aptly. Try finding out the communication channel your target audience usually migrates too and use this platform to interact with them and engage brand participation.
Public Relations
Although that word of mouth is very crucial, you should also note that the best way of enhancing it is by utilizing the PR tools that are available to the company. In addition to the well-written press release from the company, you can certainly draw the attention of the media and also get featured on the media without any need to pay before the content is being promoted. A well-written piece about the potato chips, a motivational story related to the brand or an insight into the production of the product can make the reader very interested, and they can probably end up buying your potato chips right away. However, you must bear one thing in mind, and that is the content you’re uploading to the media should be very informative and less promotional so that it wouldn’t seem like direct advertising.
Geo-Locational Marketing
With the advent of the global positioning system, getting precise data regarding a location has become very easy. You can contact a marketing company and request for information concerning your consumer base to know where they concentrate mostly and the area that is possibly the next big sales point for the potato chips.
After getting this precise information about a location, you can increase your supplies to those areas and also create new selling units so that the demand is met and more customers are roped into giving your potato chips a try.
Start Unique Marketing Campaigns
Starting marketing campaigns can help you relate with the customers and increase their engagement with your brand.
You start by asking your customers to submit a flavour of their taste which they would like to be added to the potato chips or try asking them to submit a catchphrase for the brand that they want to be printed on the packaging. These unique campaigns will help your customers get acquainted with your brand, and this will significantly increase sales.
Healthy Snacks
As many individuals are becoming aware of the harmful effects of consuming fried chips has in their body, the study shows that many are now eating only healthy snacks.
If you want your potato chips to meet the needs of these kinds of customers, then you should tailor your chips to their preferences. Baking your potato chips instead would prove to very helpful in this case. This adjustment will boost your sales as people who didn’t eat your fried potato chips can now request for the baked version, this way they get the taste and also stay in shape for a healthy life.
Website
In this era of digital advancements, your potato chips should have a website created because of the customers. Many people would want to check out your website to know if your brand is very credible before it can be purchased and consumed.
You can employ a professional web designer who can create a great website for you; there you can post all the flavors and the different types of potato chips you make. This kind of information together with few reviews about the taste of your chips from celebrity chefs can do wonder on your website, and this would make it catchy and appealing.
Social Media
Many customers would want to keep in touch with the brand via social media. So creating a page on Facebook will enable you to reach out to the countless number of people and meet their needs, mainly because Facebook is very populated, and almost all your consumers are active on this site.
As long as you can manage an active page, consumers will always stay attached to the brand, and they’ll also be able to give you direct feedback. You can post the new flavour launch and other similar offers on the Facebook page so that individuals can stay informed and then cash in on the opportunity created!
On Package Offers
You can use this effective technique to rope in sales. The packets of the chips can have specific codes. For instance, whenever a customer buys five packs, then they are privileged to get cashback or perhaps a freebie from the company! This would ensure that the customers return to the store many more times to purchase the chips and win the cashback, it would certainly give an enormous boost to the sales!
Tie-Ups
Chips are great companions when eaten while watching TV. Perhaps if a sports event is coming soon, you can try and make a tie-up with the event to showcase your chips as the official partner. This will bring in more sales during that particular time and also ensure you create advertising content for that season, something that would make people eventually buy the chips!
Conclusion
Starting your potatoes chips business can be s easy as reciting the alphabets if you only apply the right principles. Some individuals go into this business and fail, while others go in and are successful. The only difference is the knowledge both school though had. This guide is sure to put you into the one per centper cent of individuals who succeed in their potato chips business.