How to start dry fish selling Business

A Guide to success in dry fish selling business

 How to start dry fish selling business: One of the opportunities begging to be pursued is the dry fish business.

Dry fish business is a very lucrative one with unthinkable potentials as those into it are making it big in it.

Apart from fish rearing which many believe and which is a big source of income, engaging in dried and packaged fish business is emerging as the next big fish related business.

You can always make your profit if the dry fish is produced in the best way.

In this case, you can decide to supply your product to either to the local open market or to supermarkets.

With this business booming, those involved in it are always busy supplying the product based on orders from their customers both locally and in faraway places.

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There is also the opportunity to export this product as there are demands for it.

The branding and packaging of your product needs to be special as it would attract more customers to you.

If you want to export your product, you could begin on a mini export of 30kg to countries with relaxed custom policies which allow importation of products such as your products such as your product. Going into dried fish business is cleaner and less difficult compared to the fish farming business.

You are saved of the stress of constructing fish ponds, purchasing fingerlings and feeding them to market size. This may take up to four months or more.

If you are interested in going into dried fish business, all you need to do is shopping for fresh fish, processing, drying and packaging in a well branded bag followed by selling it out to the open markets or supermarkets around.

Requirements to starting a dry fish business

Purchase a smoking/drying device

The price of this device depends on the size you want as they come in different sizes. You can get it locally for a start. As your business grow, you can then purchase a more sophisticated one which may go for about N300-500,000. This has the ability to dry fishes cleaner than the locally made one.

If you want to be a huge player in the business, you may have to seek approval of NAFDAC thereby getting a NAFDAC registration number for your product.

Doing this is required if you intend selling your product Nationwide or if you are even thinking of exporting. But if you are contented with your local market, you may not bother yourself with some of their directives.

Helpful tips on Dryng fish

Obtaining fresh fish is the first step. The fish has to look and smell fresh. Otherwise, it will affect the taste of your product. Drying will not upgrade the quality of a bad fish.

There are two categories of cropped cat fishes namely mélange (300-600g/unit) and the table size (600g and above). Mélange costs about N400/unit and the table size cost about N500.

Today, your choice on the size of fish to be dry will depend on how rich your target customers are.

Either you are a farmer who harvests or your purchase your fresh fish.

You can simply add a considerable amount of salt to your fresh fishes and cover them for some minutes.

You will find them dead when you open the cover.

Cleaning

• Remove the gills and intestines clean the fish
• Also wash in clean water.

Brine and Cure

Brine is simply a mixture of common salt and water. Brine here is obtained by mixing spring water with kosher salt. The following is achieved when fresh fish is soaked in brine:

• It will firm up the flesh to make it less soft
• It gives additional flavor to the fish
• It improves the taste by draining out any blood

The cure will protect consumers from the deadly botulism bacteria since drying is done at relatively low temperature.

Smoking and drying

Prepare the fish drying apparatus; make sure you use optimum quantity to ensure you produce a steady dry. Excess dry gives a bitter taste to the fish. The following steps are taken to during drying:

• Remove the soaked fish from the brine and rinse with water
• Oil the dryr rack
• Set the fish on the oiled dryr rack each skin side down
• Use less heat initially for the first two hours
• Increase the heat afterwards
• Continue the drying and the fish is ready when it becomes flaky and looks cooked through.

The length of time of drying depends on thickness of the fish and the preference of your customers. Do they like it dry or a little moist?

Note

Do not dry fish with firewood and sawdust, fish dry this way is toxic to human health as it contains in the given off by these two material.

Profitability Analysis of fish Drying business

In the market today, catfish can be obtained at around N400-N600 per kilogram. The cost of processing and packaging gives for about N100.

Based on what is obtainable in the market today, a kilogram of dry fish can be sold at the rate of N1, 500. You can also supply in large quantity at the rate of N800 to N1, 000.

In a month, if you were able to produce and sell about 1,500 packs of dry fish each at a piece of N1, 500.

Removing of the cost price from N1, 500 and multiply what you get by 1,500, the number of packs you were able to produce.

You will agree with me that you are left with a huge sum of money. You could see that there are huge opportunities to pursue from this business both locally and abroad.

Provided you have a place to use for your factory, venturing into the business may not cost more than N500, 000. This will get you the machine for drying and packaging of the fishes, NAFDAC approval, and a name for your business with the corporate affairs commission.

With all this in place, you can be sure that your product will receive massive acceptance anywhere it gets to. All you need to do is to employ best practice in drying and packaging your product to make it appealing to the eyes.

As we analyze the profit potentials of this business, an interesting thing to know is that there is even more demand for dry fish from overseas in spite of the fact that the local demands has not been met.

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