Sly marketers have long found out that people sometimes spend absolutely crazy money on their pets.
Haircuts and clothes, veterinarians and even cosmetologists (!) Will not miss their chance to lighten the wallet of the owner of a cat or dog. And this is not to mention the breeders of thoroughbred animals, who even moreover spend huge sums on their wards.
However, most of the citizens do not get to this, providing pets only really necessary. For example, the production of cat litter for cat litter never lacks orders from retail chains. In a word, if you intend to organize your own business, but don’t know what you need to do, remember the needs of our smaller brothers.
What are the fillers?
Here are some types of cat litter: organic, gel and clumping varieties. The last two are likely to be uninteresting for an ordinary entrepreneur in our country, since raw materials and equipment for their production are expensive, and therefore the cost of the final product is such that the demand for it will be only in large cities.
Characterization of Organic Species
Therefore, we would recommend to establish the production of cat litter from the simplest organic fillers, which include only environmentally friendly raw materials. The last circumstance, by the way, automatically exempts you from the mandatory certification of fillers.
They can be produced from sawdust, wood shavings or nutshells, as well as waste from the processing of corn. This raw material has excellent ability to absorb moisture and odors, it costs literally a penny, and is also completely safe for animal health.
The best raw materials
If you are just starting to expand your production, it is best to use ready-made wood pellets. Their diameter is about 6-8 mm. Usually, they are produced in large quantities on the basis of wood processing enterprises, and pine and spruce wood are most often used as raw materials.
The fact is that this material not only actively absorbs biological fluids, but also has a bacteriostatic and bactericidal effect. Among all the wood fillers for cat's toilets, it is spruce - the most practical solution. Since raw materials are cheap, sales of such fillers are growing every year.
Cost and Profitability
Oddly enough, but it is the production of cat litter for cat litter that is distinguished by excellent profitability indicators, and also does not require a huge start-up capital. Most often, products are packaged in packages of five to ten kilograms, and the cost of one is about 120-200 rubles.
As we have already said, pellets are used for its production. You can buy them at a price of about four rubles per kilogram. Thus, the initial profit will be at least 35 rubles per kilogram of finished products. That is why the manufacture of wood fillers for cat litter in recent years has become so popular among even experienced entrepreneurs.
In principle, organizing the purchase of raw materials directly from its manufacturer, it is quite possible to achieve a profitability of 100-150%. If you produce pellets, buying only sawdust or shavings at bargain prices, the profitability of the enterprise will become even greater.
Production technology
The very production of cat litter fillers includes the following process steps:
- Pre-drying of raw materials, which is then sent for crushing.
- Extra drying. At the output, the raw material should have a moisture content of not more than 8-12%.
- Subsequent crushing of chips in a hammer mill.
- Humidification of the resulting raw material with steam (for its subsequent better bonding).
- Pressing into molds and cooling granules.
- Screening and packaging of finished products. By the way, bags for fillers can also be produced independently, since the cost of this process is low.
Equipment, its cost
Of course, for this you will need the appropriate equipment. We recommend at first to use the finished OGM 1/5 line. Sawdust, shavings and dry peat can be used as raw materials there. The latter, by the way, reduces the cost of production of cat fillers even more.
The cost of this kind of line is about two million rubles. The granulator is the most important element of the entire production, but it will still not be possible to manage without other equipment.
Consider all the component lines individually:
- Chopper shredder - costs about 180 thousand rubles.
- A dryer for raw materials (depending on capacity and volume) can cost from 400 thousand to 2.5 million rubles.
- The simplest granulator costs about 50 thousand, but the most reliable and functional models are sold within 1.5 million. In the OGM-1/5 considered by us, this structural part costs about one million.
- Pellet cooler will cost 400 thousand.
Note that it is still on the granulator that it is worth paying special attention. The fact is that in such a line a rather large and bulky model is used. In principle, it is possible to purchase a more compact and light version, which can be installed directly in the workshop of a wood processing enterprise. In addition, such equipment can be delivered in the furniture workshop, simultaneously producing another type of product.
As for packaging, it is best to take packages of 5, 10, 15 and 30 liters. We have already mentioned that you can produce them yourself.
The cost of equipment for this is about 150-200 thousand rubles. If you order packaging from third-party manufacturers, and even with the requirement to print your company logo on it, then in the end it will cost much more.
In principle, a small production of wood fillers can successfully use the simplest Zip Lock packages (within a couple of rubles apiece). In this case, it’s much cheaper to order labels with the company logo from a third-party printing company.
Sales, certification issues and more
The main advantage of the production of fillers is the fact that for this there is no need to rent a large room. In principle, all equipment for the production of cat litter is easily placed on 50 square meters. There is also no need for any special storage conditions.
As we noted at the very beginning of the article, products of this type are not subject to mandatory certification. It can be sold both in specialized pet stores and in retail outlets with everyday goods. If we talk about wholesale prices, then on average they are 15 rubles per kg.
Additional production options
But this is not all the benefits! The fact is that wood pellets for fillers can be used in a completely different quality. So, if you use larger presses to mold them, you can pack them up and sell them as fuel for barbecues and fireplaces.
On the contrary, if the sawdust (necessarily hardwood) is crushed to the smallest consistency, then the granules disperse perfectly among gardeners as an excellent means to improve the mechanical properties of the soil.
Generally speaking, in large cities, these issues need to be thought out in advance, since competition can be quite intense, and therefore other types of products will help maintain profit.
