Food is the industry that has always been and will be in great demand. After all, everyone wants to eat, and it’s tasty and regular. The difference is only in the assortment of the most sought-after goods, as buyers prefer different foods.
All recent years on consumer market there was a situation when various semi-finished products became more and more popular.
Oddly enough, the vegetable business in our country rarely involves the sale of dried products, as our consumers traditionally prefer fresh products.
Despite this, the prevalence of freeze-dried food is growing, which could not but affect the vegetable market.
And this is entirely justified, since dried vegetables do not need any special storage conditions, they do not require expensive refrigeration equipment, and if special packaging is available, they can be stored for years.
And this is without mentioning that a ton of dried produce is equivalent to tens of tons of fresh produce. And the cost is not comparable. Despite the fact that dry vegetables are cheaper, they bring much more benefits. Simply put, if there is no season, then most of the fresh produce even in large retail chains corrupts.
Prospects in our country
We have already said that domestic manufacturers are very reluctant to contact this production, since they consider it unpromising. But this is not at all true. Demand for dried vegetables is indeed not so great. But when was the last time you saw them in a store? Are there few who wish to buy a package of freeze-dried vegetables in the winter, when it is unrealistic to find fresh, good quality products?
Moreover, you will not have any competitors in this area: there are practically no domestic competitors, foreign products enjoy some distrust, and its cost is much higher than that of domestic manufacturers.
Problems with the search for raw materials are also not expected: such a vegetable business involves the possibility of using beaten or cut root crops, which in autumn can be bought from agricultural producers literally for a penny.
Sales market
Oddly enough, there will definitely not be problems with the sale of dried products. Firstly, domestic buyers have already begun to understand all its advantages. Secondly, companies that resell vegetables to China, Korea and even Europe, where the market for dried vegetables is traditionally very developed, are very eager to buy it.
What production premises will be needed?
As it is easy to assume, the production of vegetable products in any case falls under the jurisdiction of the SES and Rospotrebnadzor. Therefore, the premises of the workshop should fully comply with all their requirements.
In accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, the workshop should be organized based on: SanPiN 2.2.4.548-96 and SP 2.2.2.1327-03, which fully list all hygiene requirements for food production workshops.
Frankly, there is nothing fatal in these standards. But it’s much better and cheaper to just rent a suitable room, which was already recognized as suitable for organizing food production in it. Now consider the typical requirements that must be observed in any case.
SES typical requirements for workshops
- Firstly, the presence of a water supply system and boilers (or other systems) for heating water is mandatory.Without this, the SES will not accept any food production.
- Secondly, a sewage system is also obligatory, which must be connected to a centralized drainage system, or an agreement must be made with suckers on its regular pumping.
- All walls and floors of the production room should be lined with materials that are easy to sanitize and disinfect.
- All personnel must have sanitary books of a standard form, employees regularly undergo medical examinations.
Production technology
Many people who are not familiar with cooking often think that the vegetable business is very simple. Buy raw materials, and then sell them more expensive. Alas, this is far from the case. In fact, the production of dried products is a rather complicated and expensive process that requires compliance with many technological standards. Two main stages of production should be distinguished: preparing vegetables for production, after which there is direct drying.
Required Equipment and Technological Operations
By “preparation” is meant a thorough washing of vegetables with their subsequent slicing. As a rule, the washing machine in the second phase removes the peel from the root crops (if required). The cutting equipment is universal, as it can be adjusted for any type of raw material.
By the way, to dry vegetables from water, they are centrifuged before cutting. This approach allows not only to significantly reduce energy consumption during their subsequent complete drying, but also significantly improve the taste of the finished product.
Important! When drying itself, in no case should several types of vegetables be loaded at once, since such a violation of the production technology entails an inevitable deterioration in their original taste. This is expressed in the fact that sublimated vegetables become completely indistinguishable from each other.
Note!
The entire productivity of the workshop depends on one factor: the degree of shrinkage. However, experts say that the company should process at least 30-40 tons of raw vegetables per day. To make it clearer, for garlic, the above ratio is 4-4.5: 1; in carrots 15: 1; for potatoes - 5-6: 1. Simply put, a ton of the finished product is obtained from 15 tons of raw carrots.
Some information about the furnace
The sublimation section itself must have a high-quality dryer and oven. Fuel can be any: fuel oil, sawdust, gas. This is completely unimportant due to the fact that according to production standards it is required to be installed outside the workshop, since the production of dried vegetables involves the absence of soot, soot, and especially foreign odors in the air.
A conveyor is required, by means of which the preparation section is directly connected to the drying section. A powerful fan delivers hot air from the network to the dryer, and water vapor leaves due to a less powerful device located in the upper part of the furnace. So that the heat loss due to constant blowing of air is not so significant, the furnace is necessarily equipped with a heavy cast heat exchanger.
Square
To establish such a business with vegetables, you need a room with an area of at least 130 square meters. Note that about 8 squares outside the workshop will be occupied by the aforementioned furnace. A preparation zone occupies no less than 40-45 meters, and everything else falls on the drying section.
All of the above equipment is best bought in the form of a finished production line, the manufacture of which is currently established in China. The cost of production is about 4 million rubles.
Staff required
For all production, which we examined above, it is required to hire at least six people. As we noted above, everyone should have medical books. One technologist is responsible for one shift, responsible for the quality of the products received. Other employees may be unskilled.
Development of production in the domestic market
Since the productivity of the equipment is relatively small, and the cost of the finished product is also not the highest, we recommend that you think about organizing several points located in different parts of the city at once.
At one plant, all production is extremely irrational. It will be necessary to arrange transportation with raw materials (taking into account the required quantities, it will not be easy to do this), payment of a huge amount of consumed water and electricity.
If you mark out small workshops in three or four districts of the city, you can avoid all these costs.
In addition, to obtain additional profits, it is better to engage in the manufacture of dried fruits.
The equipment is multifunctional, so that not only apples and pears, but even berries can be put on the stream.
Like any business, the trade in vegetables and fruits is the more profitable, the wider the assortment.
Some entrepreneurial citizens even conclude agreements with farmers, under which farmers supply their products for free processing, but some of them (in dry form) remains with the manufacturer.
This will not only significantly increase the amount of earnings, but will also serve as an excellent advertisement for your company. Of course, it is perfectly acceptable to use drying equipment to release animal feed. Demand for such products is growing steadily, so you will not lose.
