Description

Nigeria’s food processing sector remains underdeveloped despite large market potential. The country depends on imports to meet its demand for quality processed foods.

Nigeria imports processed tomato paste to the tune of 65,809 tons valued at N 11.7 billion ($77.167 million) annually. The reason for this is not far-fetched; not less than 50 per cent of the tomato produced in the country is lost due to lack of preservation.

This report seeks to examine the financial viability or otherwise of establishing a tomato ketch-up sauce plant in Nigeria using concentrated tomato paste in drums 220L 30%-32% brix value as the basic raw material.

Tomato ketchup is mainly used as an appetizer during consumption of other food staffs whereas tomato sauce is used for food coloring, seasoning, soup preparation. The recipe, viscosity and solids content of sauces and ketchups vary widely and some of the other raw materials that can be used in the producing different variants includes water, Salt, Stabilizer, Glacial acetic acid, Sodium benzoate, HA (Protect the color), Malic, Sugar, Chicken extract, High Frutose Syrup and Tomato flavor.

Producing tomato ketch-up sauce of 30-32% brix value helps to maintain lycopene high content because the lower the brix value, the lower the lycopene level.  Lycopene, found in tomatoes, is the age-defying antioxidant that guards against everything from cardiovascular disease to prostate cancer.

The market for tomato ketch-up sauce is national. With a population of over 160 million people and an estimated national population growth rate of 5.7% per annum ,an average economic growth rate of 3.5% per annum in the past five {5} years, Nigeria has a large market for tomato ketch-up sauce.

Tomato is important in our diets because it is rich in vitamins A and C and also fibre, and it is cholesterol free. Tomato fruit boasts of only 10 calories in every 42.28 grams.

Tomato Ketch-up is consumed by people of all age groups and demand is going up in Nigeria. Ketch-up is becoming popular in Nigeria due to their extensive use as enrichers along with bread and other such preparations, in making some fastfood items like pizza, burger, hot dogs etc. and as additives with many food preparations.

Apart from a growing household market, other lucrative segment is eateries, restaurants, sandwich makers, fastfood joints etc.