How to Start Packaging Business in Nigeria

 How to Start Packaging Business?

How to start packaging business will introduce you to the basics of all you need to know before you start packaging business in Nigeria.

If you need practical training on food processing and packaging business, then you can take advantage of online and offline workshop training on how to start food processing and packaging business in Nigeria.

Food Packaging

Packaging food means wrapping or containing it in some form of material that will protect it during storage, transport and distribution.

Packaging prevents food from becoming damaged due to impact or crushing, contaminated by insects and micro-organisms, or affected by moisture, air or odours. In general, packaging prevents foods from spoiling, losing value and losing volume through leakage or spillage.

Requirements of packaging

In general, food packaging must fulfill the following requirements:

• It must hold the contents and keep them secure without leakage or breakage until they are used, and enable the food to be handled conveniently.
• It must protect the food against a range of hazards during distribution and storage.

This includes serving as a barrier to dirt, microorganisms and other contaminants;

• protecting the food from damage caused by insects, birds and rodents;
• protecting it from crushing or other physical damage;
• and protecting it from the effects of heat and light that can cause rancidity, or moisture pickup or loss that can cause softening, wilting or other types of quality deterioration.

It should be suitable for recycling or re-use, or be easily disposed of to prevent waste packaging from causing environmental pollution.

The selection of a packaging material for a particular agricultural product depends on both its technical suitability (i.e. how well the package protects the food for the required shelf life) and the method used to sell the food.

Cost and availability of food packaging materials

The cost and availability of different packaging materials in a particular area also determine which packaging materials are used.

The cost of a package should be considered in relation to the value of the food.

For example, producers would incur serious financial losses if they used the wrong packaging materials

For high-value foods that deteriorate without the correct packaging (e.g. cooking oils).

These foods should therefore receive a higher level of investment in packaging than lower-value crops.

This type of cost-benefit analysis should be carried out before selecting the best type of packaging for

Individual foods.

The amount of money available to packaging business owners to pay for packaging materials also depends on which of the above markets they sell their produce to. For example, direct sales to urban retailers provide greater

added-value and generate a higher income for producers.

This in turn allows greater investment in packaging for their products. Conversely, sales of low added-value products (e.g. root crops) in rural markets or sales to middlemen often mean that farmers do not earn enough money to package their crops in suitable materials.

This section outlines the properties and comparative advantages of different types of shipping containers which are used for different types of foods in packaging business

Shipping containers, protect the food during transport and storage, and can be of several types:

1. boxes, trays, baskets and crates
2. sacks of variable materials
3. drums, barrels and cans
4. Stretch-wrapping and shrink-wrapping

Boxes, trays, baskets and crates

Cardboard boxes

Corrugated cardboard boxes and cartons prevent damage to foods caused by impacts and compression, and they are therefore widely used to contain bottled or plastic-packaged foods. Boxes that have smaller, more numerous corrugations are more rigid; whereas those that have larger corrugations or double- and triple-wall corrugated materials provide cushioning and resist impact damage.

The size and shape of the box should be carefully chosen so that it prevents the contents moving and becoming damaged during transport.

The box design that uses the least amount of cardboard, and so is the most economical, has a ratio of

‘length: width: height’ of ‘2:1:2’.

Corrugated boxes that are lined with polythene or wax-coated grease proof paper are used for wet or greasy foods such as fresh meat or fish.

Wooden boxes, trays and crates

Wooden boxes, trays and crates protect foods against crushing, are easy to stack and have a good weight-to-strength ratio. They are widely used to transport fruits and vegetables to prevent damage by

crushing.

Stretch-wrapping 

The properties of polythene can be altered to make it ‘cling’ to itself for use as ‘cling film’ or in stretch wrapping. In stretch-wrapping, the film is wrapped under tension around boxes on a pallet.

Shrink-wrapping 

Thin polythene film shrinks when it is heated and it is used in shrink-wrapping. Shrink wrapping of bottles, jars, etc., is replacing cardboard distribution boxes in many countries because it is cheaper.

The film is shrunk using hot air, within a shrink-wrapping machine or by using a hot-air gun or hair dryer.

Retail containers are used for retail sales and home storage. There is a wide variety of retail containers that can be used to package products:

1. Bags, sachets and wrapping materials
2. Bottles, pots and jars
3. Cartons, trays and tubs

Specific issues for retail packaging are labelling and tamper-resistance and evidence.

One of the important key on how to start packaging business is the choice of packing material 

Producers should first find out which types are locally available and then discuss with the supplier(s) the most cost-effective options, taking into account the following factors:

1. Is the material suitable to be in contact with a particular food?
2. Should it be resistant to fats or oils?
3. Should it be a barrier to air or moisture? How much of a barrier is needed?
4. Does the material melt at a low temperature, which would make it unsuitable?
5. Are the colour, clarity, and surface finish of the packaging suitable for the intended product?
6. Can the material be printed locally?
7. Are special filling or sealing machines required for the material?
8. Is the material strong enough to prevent damage from impacts or crushing? Is a stronger shipping container needed to protect the packaging material and its contents?
9. Can the containers be stacked when empty to reduce transport and storage costs?
10. Can the material be re-used or disposed of with minimum environmental pollution?

Planning to commence a How to Start Packaging Business in Nigeria, we offer full and detailed training on food processing and packaging for international and local market. The online and offline training will offer you required skills for successful food packaging business in Nigeria. Plan exporting your products? Then read 20 important questions to ask yourself before exporting.