Practical Guide On How To Start A Profitable Honey Production Business In Nigeria
With little capital, you can start a profitable honey production business in Nigeria. The honey business is filled with great potentials because of the business opportunities you will find in honey production.
The product (honey) is an intrinsic part or ingredient in lots of skincare, food, medicinal and even, industrial goods. It has incredible health benefits and this has increased the value of honey. With each passing day and with the emphasis on the effects of sugar, people are becoming more drawn to the consumption of honey.
With the increased demand for honey for the various reasons mentioned above, it has become good for business.
According to Vanessa, “Honey is produced from bee species like the Western honey bee (A. mellifera), and the Eastern honey bee (Apis cerana). Ripened nectar gathered in the sac of a bee is deposited into unused honeycomb cells. Other worker bees in the hive add more enzymes and enrich the deposits they ingest. Mature honey is placed back in the combs and capped with a light coating of beeswax.”
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She further explained that “On average, a bee colony produces about 60-100 pounds of honey every year. Honey farmers take out full honeycombs then extract its content. The honey is then processed through heating and further packaged in bottles. Unpackaged honey is stored in containers and kept in a cool area.”
About 400,000 tonnes of honey is consumed every year in Nigeria. This figure may not be accurate but it is pretty close and that makes it an interesting prospect and you can factor in other uses of honey and you will realize its potentials.
As mentioned earlier, it is low-capital startup but that doesn’t mean that you cannot start in a mega way. The honey industry is relatively untapped despite its huge potentials and that is why we implore you to start a profitable honey production business in Nigeria.
We shall look into the various opportunities open to us in honey production and we will look at the guide on how to start a profitable honey production business in Nigeria. Stay with us.
Business Opportunities In Honey Production Business
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Beauty Product Market
Honey is very important to those in the beauty product market. There are new ways invented at regular intervals by people in this industry to handle skin and hair issues. When honey is refined and combined with other important substances, it can be used to improve the skin, hair and nail conditions.
It can be utilized in hydrating dry cuticles, conditioning hair types, treating acne and moisturizing and cleansing the skin.
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The beauty companies that produce conditioners, moisturizers, full body scrubs, cleansers, face masks and lotions add honey to their products. This makes it a huge opportunity for honey producers as they can sell to those in this sector.
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Medicinal market
One reason you can start a profitable honey production business is that there is a market for it in the natural medicine sector. You should know that honey is a natural treatment for many diseases and ailments.
Honey can be used in the cure of bacterial and inflammatory infections, it can be used for wound dressing, treating burns and easing a cough. Honey has both curative and preventive potentials for digestive troubles and diseases such as measles and chicken pox.
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Food Processing And Drink Businesses
This is an important aspect of the uses of honey. It can be said to be primary. For one it is non-sugary and yet sweetening which makes it a good substitute for sugar. It is used in both domestic and commercial preparation of food and drinks. It is used both as a flavor and a substitute sweetener.
You can sell to commercial food and drink maker and you can sell to homes.
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Wholesale And Retail Sales
You can also become a wholesale or retail marketer of honey. It is a huge opportunity. You can get from producers if you cannot go through the process of honey production and you sell to others. Quite simple I guess.
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Honey Product Exports
The export business for honey is quite lucrative. One of the ways to start a profitable honey production business is to explore the export industry. You can become an exporter of your product or you can sell to other exporters. Either way, you are bound to earn huge amount of money.
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Industrial Opportunities
You can find honey a great product for industrial uses. When you look at the manufacturers of certain products such as antibiotics, cleaning wax, candles, royal jelly, and salves, you will see a market for your honey products and there is so much money you can make from it.
How To Start A Profitable Honey Production Business In Nigeria
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Research the business
The first part of any business is to go on feasibility studies. You should be able to look at the profitable of the business, the places it thrives most, its weaknesses and strengths, the money you will need and the other important aspects. When you are done with this, you go on to put down your business plan.
To write a business plan which is important when you want to start a profitable honey production business in Nigeria, you must have done your research well. Your business plan articulates your plan of action as it will contain your financial cash flow, exit strategy, potential market, startup capital and other important aspects of a business.
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Capital
From your feasibility studies, you will understand the capital you will need to start a profitable honey production business. It all depends on the scale you want to operate and the opportunity you want to become part of. You can fix your finances by taking out personal savings, getting loans and help from friends and relatives, getting investors and other ways you can get startup money.
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Choose A Good Location
The location is the business. There is usually a problem when you start a right business in a wrong location. The profits won’t be maximized. You will pick a location that is best suited to your business and you can get the best out of the business.
When setting up your beehives if you want to go into production, it has to be somewhere quiet and isolated. Stay away from waterlogged and termite infested places.
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Register the business with the appropriate authorities
In Nigeria, every business has to be registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and you will also need to register with other authorities such as the beekeeping and honey association in your community. You may also need to get the approval of NAFDAC.
- Pick a bee variety
When you want to start a profitable honey production business in Nigeria, you will need to pick the variety of bee you would want to use. You can get domesticated bees from local bee farms or you import western or eastern hybrid bees.
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Pests and diseases control
You wouldn’t your efforts to be jeopardized by pests and diseases. Therefore, you must find ways to handle pests such as termites, hive beetle, and wax moth and you must also handle diseases such as chalkbrood and Nosema diseases.
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Maintenance
It is one thing to start a bee farm, it is another thing to maintain it. The bee farms are expected to be regularly taken care of. You are expected to visit the bee farms at least, once in a week to keep up with keeping pests and disease away.
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Processing And Packaging
The processing of honey is quite easy. It involves heating up tanks or containers filled with honey. You have to boil to at least At 48°C to remove the impurities. It is at that point that the crystals within the honey melt and impurities are cleared.
The packaging is where you need to try to be creative and innovative. How your products appear will determine the kind of attention it will receive. You can brand the products to be unique. They are the things that attract customers other than the quality of the product
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Advertise and market your products
Finally, you will need to take your goods to consumers and to do this, you need to have a strong advertising and marketing plan.
You will need to explore all the necessary channels of advertisement so as to make sales. People will only know how good your products or services are if you tell them. The social media platforms can also be used.
