As part of the exercise to use mechanical operation system to solve the part of the challenges of Commercial Garri Processors in cost control in order to be able to operate profitably in the highly competitive commodity garri market, usage of mechanical frying machine has always been popular.
This machine alone is able to bring down the frying cost by up to 20% and also reduce the production time by up to 50%. Largely, the effectiveness of the machine in terms of product quality has been surmounted. And through various adaptations on energy usage and improvement on capacity, its efficiency and productivity has significantly improved.
The unavailability of electricity supplies in farm environments is a major limiting factor for the deployment of electric powered mechanical garri fryers into such areas where siting of the business is mostly attractive due to large availability of the raw material at good prices.
Even in few areas where electricity is available, you hardly find supply with 3-phases; which is essentially required for the worm gear that many of these mechanical fryers carry. Over time, we have also realized that it is not economical to deploy the popular diesel generator that welders use to power just a single mechanical fryer.
Unfortunately, not many commercial garri processors can afford to procure two to three mechanical fryers that need to be deployed on such diesel generator to make the operations profitable by sharing the diesel cost on the output of the three machines.
Deployment of 5 HP petrol engine powered mechanical fryers that consumes average of 10 ltrs fuel to produce 400kg of garri later came a succour to Commercial Processors. But now, the pump price of petrol has almost tripled and it is practically impossible for processors to fully transfer the extra associated cost on the price of garri – as they have to contend in same market with local processors who practise manual self frying and sell at ridiculously subsidized price. It has therefore become pertinent to again begin to explore possible solution(s) that will help mitigate this new development.
First among the possible solutions that come to mind is the usage of solar energy to power the electric motor (gear). This is highly possible and it is being explored even for large capacity cabinet dryer. Though its set up may be expensive, this is a very promising solution as the power source for garri fryer particularly in farm areas where cassava supply is in abundant.
However, it is worthy to note that the work between the solar grid installers and mechanical fryer fabricators is not yet well coordinated. If these two important stakeholders can work together as technical partners, developing a solar powered mechanical fryer that is both effective and efficient would be achieved in no time.
Another alternative energy source that could be explored is the possibility of using cooking gas generated from installed bio – digester to fuel electric generator that will power the electric gear and also as the cooking gas that will serve as the heat source for the fryer. Considering the high quantity of liquid biological waste generated in a garri factory, installation of bio digester system as good source of cooking gas needs to be given more consideration.
A Commercial Garri Processor who has strong financial muscle for set up may consider taking full advantage of medium capacity diesel engine for more productivity and better Profitability by putting two to three mechanical fryers on a single generator. Combine output of nearly 1.5 tons of garri from the three fryers would be able to shoulder the cost of 10 litres of diesel that would have been consumed within the 8-10 hours operation time.
The typical diesel generator use by welders that carries 1115 engine and 30 kva (3 phase) alternator cost around N900,000. If this investment is too much for a single person, two or three processors may come together in the same factory to achieve this set up that will significantly enable profitability of their businesses.
For the low scale Investors in Commercial Garri Processing business who cannot afford mechanical fryer(s), one of the operational tactics they can employ to achieve competitive production cost and price is by engaging in Co- operation or Partnership running with the local processors in that locality. The idea ride on the platform of profit and responsibility sharing with the selected local processors to achieve reduce cost especially on peeling and frying. This process has been well detailed in my previous post titled “THE TEMPLE THAT WORKS”.
Another disruptive option available to surmount the unfavorable effect of high petrol cost at this critical time is to deploy a trans- location production system; starting at rural area where cassava tubers is available in abundance and finishing with electric powered mechanical fryer installed in urban area where electricity supply is available.
In the rural area, you have in place a system for cassava procurement, peeling, grating, fermentation and dewatering/pressing. This semi- processed garri is then transferred to the other location with electricity where the frying is done through the usage of electric powered mechanical fryer.
With this system, the production cost is drastically reduced. Apart from the fact this system is profitable, it also enable Investors in the city to also operate the business by buying the semi-processed garri from the farm areas and complete the production at the convenience of their environment in the urban area; where they are even closer to premium buyers.
However, it is important to note that such pressed garri cake or its pulverized pulp need to special handling during transit to avoid environmental impacts that could lead to spoilage or quality defect of the finished garri produced.
No doubt, government policies, environmental factors, market dynamics, technology and so on will from time to time pose challenges and present opportunities in our businesses. It is only through our preparedness, calculative actions and timely reactions that we can continue to make good of these different situations.
In this Commercial Garri Processing business, dynamisms in strategy and implementation will continue to play a major role in ensuring business sustainability. It has never been one size fits all. And it shall never be.
God no go shame us.
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