Business for the production of croutons and snacks
Content
- Organizational moments
- Technological process
- Necessary equipment
- Working staff
- Premises
- Registration moments
- Distribution channels and advertising campaign
- Alternative direction
- Profitability, ROI, and Payback Period
Starting capital - from 800 thousand rupees or rubles
Organizational moments
All kinds of snacks (mainly products with salt and/or flavor enhancers) are categorized as “snacks” intended to be eaten “on the go”. in this article we will be talking about Business For The Production Of Croutons And Snacks They came to the domestic market from the USA and European countries and almost instantly gained wide popularity. The target audience of crackers and snacks is people aged 18-40 years. Also, these products are positioned by manufacturing companies as “snacks for beer”. This segment has always attracted novice entrepreneurs with high demand and good prospects, as well as relatively small start-up capital. In Russia, products made by domestic manufacturers prevail (about 75% of the total). Of all the varieties of snacks of this kind, making crackers is the most cost-effective. These products are in high demand among lovers of foamy drinks. According to statistics,
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| Business For The Production Of Croutons And Snacks |
Even despite the high level of competitiveness in this segment, it is still far from oversaturation. This is because several large brands dominate, selling their products throughout the country. At the regional level, they have good prospects for start-up entrepreneurs.
If you decide to open a business for the production of crackers and other snacks, you should start by creating a business project. So you will be able to assess the competitiveness in your region, analyze the demand for the selected products, calculate the start-up costs, think in advance about the distribution channels of the manufactured products. You can immediately start looking for partners and develop an advertising campaign if you are confident of success.
Competitiveness in this segment, as mentioned in the last paragraph, is quite high. If you do not have large start-up capital, then do not immediately try to compete with large manufacturers, especially with importing companies. Focus on your region first. As you get comfortable - you can take the bar higher. When analyzing a segment, consider a number of the following factors:
The number of brands in your area;
The assortment produced by them;
Prices;
Advertising sources;
Points of sale of products.
It would be better if you order such a study from specialists - in a marketing agency. The cost of such a service is from 20 thousand rubles. If you have enough experience or skill in this area, and also have free time, you can do this work yourself. Results are your basis when writing a business project.
Technological process
The technological process for making croutons and snacks is relatively simple and is divided into the following stages:
Slicing bread;
Frying it in special cabinets or oven installations. The duration of the procedure is no more than 15 minutes.
Adding flavor enhancers, spices, and other additives;
Holding followed by cooling;
Packing and packaging of output products.
The main raw material is bread made from millet or rye flour. Average consumption of raw materials per 100 kilograms of crackers:
About 150 kilograms of bread;
Up to 5 kilograms of spices and other additives;
35 liters of oil.
Some crouton manufacturing companies do not buy ready-made bread, but make it themselves - this helps to increase the profitability of the enterprise. Then the first stage of the technological process is the baking of bread. Mainly, products are used (such as flour and sunflower oil) by domestic producers. Whereas spices, flavoring enhancers, and other additives, as well as seafood, are more profitable to purchase from the Far East.
According to the latest polls, the most popular flavors of croutons are:
Meat (bacon, salami),
Cheese,
Sour cream onions;
Seafood (such as squid).
Necessary equipment
For the production of croutons and other snacks, it is necessary to purchase the appropriate equipment. You can choose from both foreign and domestic installations. Their variety and equipment depend on the selected assortment. The minimum package includes:
Equipment for cutting bread;
Oven installations for drying bread;
Plants for adding various spices;
Filling and packaging machines for finished products.
Experts advise making a choice in favor of automated or semi-automated production lines, with which you can make non-standard croutons, for example, in the form of straws. Such products are more popular than the usual cubes - they have less thickness and rigidity. For the production of such croutons you will need:
Special machine for cutting the bread into “straws”. The production capacity is about 90 kilograms/hour. Installation cost - up to 100 thousand rubles (which is equivalent to 1.45 thousand euros or 1.8 thousand dollars).
Installation for frying croutons. Production capacity - 30 kilograms / hour. The installation cost is 45 thousand rubles (which is equivalent to 650 euros or 800 dollars).
Dragee installation. Production capacity - 90 kilograms / hour. The installation cost is 40 thousand rubles (which is equivalent to 580 euros or 700 dollars).
Semi-automatic packaging machine for finished products. Production capacity - up to 5 hundred 50-gram packs / hour. Installation cost - from 75 thousand rubles (which is equivalent to 1.1 thousand euros or 1.35 thousand dollars).
The minimum cost of the simplest production line with production capacities of up to 20 kilograms / hour (up to 350 50-gram packs / hour) is 300 thousand rubles (which is equivalent to 4.3 thousand euros or 5.3 thousand dollars). This is one of the simplest and most affordable options, with obvious drawbacks. For example, experts recommend buying some units separately, rather than in a composite version, to increase the profitability of the enterprise. For example, the production capacity of the straw cutter and coating plant is much higher than that of the others. To avoid downtime, we recommend buying 2 more semiautomatic packaging machines, as well as several additional roasting ovens. In total, with relatively small additional investments, you can increase production volumes by 3-4 times! The simplest line includes a rotary oven, in front of which it is necessary to dry the already cut croutons. This can be very time-consuming, since the bread cut into straws must settle for at least a couple of days in cardboard or wood boxes before frying. If you skip this step, all the straw will begin to grind in the rotary oven. Furnace installations without rotating elements can be used to shorten production cycles. For example, classic table ovens. Key disadvantages of this solution: high cost and high consumption of electrical energy. If you skip this step, all the straw will begin to grind in the rotary oven. Furnace installations without rotating elements can be used to shorten production cycles. For example, classic table ovens. Key disadvantages of this solution: high cost and high consumption of electrical energy. If you skip this step, all the straw will begin to grind in the rotary oven. Furnace installations without rotating elements can be used to shorten production cycles. For example, classic table ovens. Key disadvantages of this solution: high cost and high consumption of electrical energy.
Also, in addition to the ruler itself, you will find it useful:
Additional tools:
Scales, both small and industrial;
Volumetric dishes;
Inventory:
Containers/containers for storing and drying rusks and so on;
Shelves;
Cooking/cutting tables and more.
The approximate cost of all of the above is about 150 thousand rubles, cheaper when buying used tools. All this makes it possible to produce more than 2.5 thousand 60-gram packages in an 8-hour shift (which is equivalent to 150 kilograms of the finished product). Approximate consumption of raw materials for such volumes:
250 kilograms of dense bread ;
1.5 kilograms of spices and other additives;
8 kilograms of printed metalized propylene film for packaging.
Do not forget to take into account the consumption of electrical energy (about 25 kilowatts), gas consumption (in the case of using gas ovens), as well as the payroll for employees. More profitable furnace installations - gas (savings - about 25%).
Working staff
The production line requires 2 people for an 8-hour shift. Basically, such enterprises work in 2 shifts, which means that it will be necessary to hire about 5 people to service the line, a process engineer, a mechanic, and a chief foreman. In total, the total number of employees (taking into account the HR department and various managers) is more than 15 people.
Premises
To place all the equipment, you need to find a room. Half of the area - more than 50 square meters (for a medium-sized enterprise - 75-120 square meters) - will be occupied by workshops. The same amount of space must be allocated for household, office, office, and warehouse (for raw materials and finished products) premises. The ideal location is within the city limits (it would be wiser to choose a city with a millionaire). The workshops can be located on the outskirts of the city (due to the lower rental cost), but as close as possible to the city itself.
Registration moments
Before starting the technological process, it is necessary to obtain an appropriate permit from the sanitary-epidemiological station and the fire service, as well as a barcode from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The approximate waiting time for documentation is 1 month.
In addition, you need to make technical specifications (TU) for the manufactured products and then achieve their agreement and approval. TU is documentation that includes technological requirements for manufactured products. Technical conditions are used if there is no state standard or technical regulation for determining the indicators of manufactured products if it is necessary to supplement an existing GOST or it is necessary to combine requirements that are spelled out in more than one GOST. Technical specifications, like state standards, are developed for certain products. In addition, the TU must specify the procedures that will establish compliance with all requirements.
You can order the development of technical specifications from the appropriate organization. Development period - 3-7 days, after the document is agreed with the customer, certain changes are made, if necessary. In the end, the final version of the TU is approved. The cost of the service is over 35 thousand rubles. You can do this yourself if you have experience in this area and free time. But, as practice shows, such savings are rarely justified, since the time for approval and revision of the technical specifications will take more time.
Distribution channels and advertising campaign
The main distribution channels for crackers and snacks are wholesalers and large retail stores. If the assortment you produce is wide enough, then it would be wiser to sell products yourself. With a more limited assortment, use the help of intermediaries. One of the most important expense items is running a smart advertising campaign. You should not immediately aim at the whole country - start with your region. All available means are suitable: outdoor advertising, your own website, POS materials, promotions and hot offers. Your main target audience is students.
Pay special attention to the design of your products - every little thing can play into your hands. Use bright colors, highlight your company logo, come up with a catchy name.
In addition to the colorful and memorable design, keep the high quality bar of the manufactured products. This also includes the quality of the input raw materials - flour, sunflower oil, spices, flavors, flavor enhancers and other components. Saving on raw materials can go badly for you. If you want to maximize the company's profitability (the average for a snack company is about 20%), then the best option is to diversify and constantly replenish your assortment. Another option is to bake your own bread. Do not be afraid to experiment - come up with new tastes, try new forms (for example, more convenient "straw" croutons quickly replaced the classic cube croutons).
Alternative direction
A relatively new direction with good prospects (while this niche remains almost unoccupied in Russia) is the production of specialized crackers for salads and other dishes. Despite their relevance, finding them in the store is problematic. Basically, they are made from bread (mainly wheat) and have strict size and degree of roasting. Croutons, which are positioned as a "beer snack", are not suitable here because they have a bright taste and smell due to the addition of flavors and flavor enhancers. And this can interrupt (and in some cases spoil) the taste of the intended dish. A small number of manufacturers of bakery products make such croutons from the waste of their own technological process.
But such products, of course, cannot be called high-quality - they are packaged in huge bags, cut at random (often in huge pieces). Making specialized crackers used as one of the main ingredients for salads and other dishes (mainly wheat bread and a minimum amount of food additives are used, especially it is worth limiting the addition of flavor enhancers - they can interrupt the taste of the prepared dish) is an excellent idea with good prospects for the future development. Among the advantages, one can also note the demand and very low competition in this area. In this case, you can find one more sales channel for the products - specialized croutons are very often used in restaurants as an addition to gourmet dishes.
Profitability, ROI, and Payback Period
The average cost of 1 pack of crackers is no more than 25 rubles. Here it is necessary to take into account the basic rule of price formation - the buyer will not buy a snack that costs more (or the same amount) than 1 can/bottle of beer. It should also be borne in mind that snacks are at least a little, but still subject to the seasonality factor, the maximum sales volumes coincide with the peak sales of the foamy drink - therefore, these are periods of late spring - mid-autumn. The rest of the months show lower but still good sales figures. Although nowadays crackers are not necessarily associated as a snack for beer - many people buy them when there is not enough time to sit down and eat normally (this is especially true for students), so the seasonality factor is not particularly noticeable.
In total, the minimum initial investment is about 1 million rubles. Most of this amount will go to the purchase of the necessary equipment and tools, some of which will go to rent a working space and purchase the first lots of raw materials. The remaining amount is spent on an advertising campaign, employee payroll, and other expenses. With a well-functioning sales system of manufactured products, the payback period is 6-8 months. The average monthly profit is about 200 thousand rubles during the peak sales for beer, about 100 thousand rubles - in other months.
