With the little experience I have gained from the extraction of virgin coconut oil from coonut, msrketing it Edo state, here are some suggestions of coconut based business if you are interested:

1.Sales of coconut fruit: I did it on the side for a short while. In my first attempt, the market women rushed it. Coconut sells very fast in the market. Alhough the gain on each piece might be N10, 20 or N40, your profit increases the higher the number of coconut you can sell. You can take lets say 200 pieces to the market, especially on market days and expect to clear it all before 12pm. If the gain on each piece is N10, 20 or more, you can expect to make a profit of N2, 000, N4000 or more before 12pm. Take note though, transportation might take a bite out of the gain. People in your house and neighborhood will buy from you and you can approach local stores to buy from you and sell to their customers. Sometimes, when I was broke, and had raw coconut I have not processed into vco, I took the coconut to market and sold them off quickly for immediate cash. That was when I realize the power of cash crop. It is money. Many families and individuals do this business and make good profit from it that sustains them.There are more women in the business than men, but that does not mean men don't do it. I used to approach people who own coconut trees in their premises to buy the fruit on the tree. That is a cheaper but tasking way to obtain cheap coconut one can resell. Some even go as far as Ghana to buy coconut and bring down to Nigeria to sell here at good prices where they still make money. Two of my suppliers in New Benin Market obtain their coconut from Ghana Some sellers sell in bags or counting.To make an impact as coconut seller, you must be able to buy in bags and have regular supply and a nice location.

2.Another coconut business you can start, and keep a low profile at is coconut oil or virgin coconut oil production. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, à miicro scale production target of 20 liters monthly is okay, this is about processing 300 coconut monthly into virgin coconut oil. At a market price of 5,000-, 8,000 per liter (depending on location), a micro scale producer with a good marketing strategy and smart network can earn 100,00-160,000 selling his virgin coconut oil to targeted clients in his state of residence. The more awareness he can raise, the more he may be able to attract new clients. But if you let greed push you, into investiting in the business big time, well, unless the Nigerian economic situation improves in the foreseeable future, such investment may come with great risks in the future. At that micro level, you can keep producing at bearable cost. But going medium to large scale, is so capital intensive that, your chances of survival in a country like Nigeria that imports coconut from Ghana is slim. So, if you want to do virgin coconut oil business at micro scale level, I can encourage you to go for it. Anything beyond that, in Nigeria, it is risky. If you produce 20 litres of virgin coconut oil and at the end of the month, after removing all your cost, you made a profit of 50,000-75, 000, is that not okay to keep one goingly monthly in this Buhari regime? Me i think so! One of the advantages of producing virgin coconut oil even at that micro level is that, you will always be touching money.. People around you will always be asking you for it and on those days, you might be broke, people will just come and give you money, asking you to produce for them or give them the product if you have in stock. I cant recall how many times, God saved me like this, when I was broke. The girls in my neighborhood,both those who wanted to lose weight and those who have skin problems, would trace me, give me the cash even though I didn’t have the product and asked me to produce it for them. These customers, in turn told other people who would call and say they heard virgin coconut oil deos this and that. I would say yes, and they wouldlike, is it available? If i said no, they ask when it will available or even deposit for me to produce for them. Take note, don’t talk to illiterates about virgin coconut oil. Many of them don’t know what It is, they don’t appreciate it and do not get excited about it. All my customers are usually enlightened women and girls that know whats up. They are the still the ones that buy it till tomorrow.

3.Produce Cosmetics: As a producer of virgin coconut oil, you can venture into hand made, luxury virgin coconut oil soap and coconut milk soap. Soap is an every day thing. You can never go wrong if you branch into the handmade luxury coconut milk soap. Prices ranges from N250, 500 to N2000. With innovative branding and packaging, you can sell these soaps to everyone around you, stores and Facebook and internet .

4.Produce Body creams and lotions: You can convert your virgin coconut oil into creams, baby lotion, hair lotion, lip balm, after shave, sex lubricant etc. It comes down to knowing what you are doing and of course packaging. I convert virgin coconut oil into all these product.As for hair oils that promote quick hair growth, I add curry leaf, almond and other spices that boost hair growth. I slap label on the container and sell them as Indian herbal hair tonic. Put virgin coconut oil in container, add perfume and it becomes bay lotion, body lotion etc.

5.Making dessicated coconut flakes and flour is a good business idea, but not a small business or micro business idea. It requires a lot of standard manufacturing and packaging processes, machines and compliance with the rules. Besides, this is not a product that will become any popular soon in the nearest future in Nigeria. But many big time companies have invested in it in Europe and America and are making money from it as well. This coconut product is an option for people with deep pocket.

6.Coconut water: Yea, another highly popular coconut product big time investors in western societies are making money from, is coconut water. If you can preserve and package coconut water, and get nafdac approval, o boy, you will certainly make money in Nigeria. But take note, coconut water has a very short shelf life. Less than 4 hours after opening a coconut, it spoils and attracts flies. To keep it from rapid deterioration, most people refrigerate it. If you can get the secret to preserving it, you can start a business by packaging it for sale! Then the sky is your limit. Many companies in Asia export coconut water overseas and make huge amount of money from this coconut product alone. You can package it like caprisun juice or like Red Bull energy drink. Coconut water is marketed globally as a natural health product and taken as energy drink by millions of people in the world.Coconut water preservation and packaging is an opportunity only those with deep pocket can tap.

7.Coconut Milk and Coconut Cream: Just like dessicated coconut, coconut water, these are products obtained from coconut that are not popular locally but are generating profit for companies that invest in them overseas in Asia, and export them globally. Requires high level of technology and investment, in countries with abundant coconut plantations.

8.Catering, baking and foods: if you want to taste the kind of fried rice, stew, soup, fried fish, fried meat, fried snail , popcorn, chin chin, plaintain chips , akara and other foods you have never in yourlife before tasted , prepare it with virgin coconut oil! You are gonna love it it. The taste changes completely into coconutty taste. If you are planning a special occasion like marriage, birth day, anniversary, club meetings and parties for special people, get virgin coconut oil to prepare the meal for your special guests. They would love the taste and indeed remember the occasion for the coconut taste of the meal you served!

Therefore small business owners in the line of catering, frying and cooking can increase their potential to make money by adding food recipes made with virgin coconut oil. I think a time would come when we should be able to buy popcorns, fried chickens, fried snails, meat, fish, yam, akara prepared fully with virgin coconut oil or partly at restuarants, hotels, fast food outlets and certain hangouts in this Nigeria, when people realize how much they are missing out from the cool coconutty taste of food. If I wanted to make more money as a restaurant owner all I needed to do, is add new recipes of meals prepared with vco and introduce them to my special clients or mix a little virgin coconut into all my cooking oils, for special and light coconutty effect. In acountry like Nigeria where we like flexing, providing uniques tasting foods means more money for enterprising businesses. In the same vein, caterers, want to introduce virgin coconut oil to their clients, people planning for special occasions like marriage and parties, as special cooking oil for such ocassions. Of course any meal prepared with virgin coconut oil is sold at premium prices. If you fry things for sale you can add new products by frying some with virgin coconut oil or oilmixed with vco. When some customers realize they can get coconutty pop corn, fried meat, fish, etc from you or your restaurant, they might just keep coming back to buy your new coconutty chop chop.

9. Finally, one of the best coconut based business you can do for a longtime without fear of ever losing is coconut farming. Coconut farming is about planting coconut farms , and waiting patiently for 3 years to start making money selling one of the word's greatest cash crop, coconut. 50 to 100 coconut treesare what you need to knocking on the door of a millionaire in 3-4years time. If you have a large piece of land, say 100 by 100 or 100ft by 200ft, why not start thinking of how to plant coconut on them, and cultivating them for the few years? This is a good way to escape hardship in Nigeria forever! Agric pays.

So, there you have, types of small add some big coconut business anyone can start. The above options differently to different people.What works for A may not work for you .What works for you, may not work for B. All of us are different you know. And there are many other business around coconut you can start, these are just the few. As hard as coconut is, that is also how hard it is make money from. But as sweet as the inside meat is, that is also how sweet your profit can be when customers starts coming round and demanding for your product. Remember coconut based products are not for poor people, all over the world including Nigeria. They always command higher prices.

Only exceptional people go into the business. If you are gonna produce the oil, then you must be ready to enter the cosmetic line or food processing line in Nigeria, if you are gonna succeed. Have no illussions, all coconut businesses are not get rich quick business. Have you seen a production business that is a get rich quick business?

I have not. So, have no illusions about overnight wealth when thinking about coconut businesses.

Hopefully,from April I will post some videos on point 2,3, 4 and 8 above.

On point 2, the videos will focus on producing vco from different methods like:
1/fermentation
2.Boiling
3.Sun light
4. Low pressure extraction using locally made expellers.

The good thing about knowing how to produce vco is that, you can follow the principles behind the process to obtain oils from :
1.Avocado pear
2.Sesame
3.Groundnut
4.Almonds and any seeds or nuts you can press mechanically to express oil.
Thank you.

Restroom:


With the little experience I have gained from the extraction of virgin coconut oil from coonut, msrketing it Edo state, here are some suggestions of coconut based business if you are interested:

1.Sales of coconut fruit: I did it on the side for a short while. In my first attempt, the market women rushed it. Coconut sells very fast in the market. Alhough the gain on each piece might be N10, 20 or N40, your profit increases the higher the number of coconut you can sell. You can take lets say 200 pieces to the market, especially on market days and expect to clear it all before 12pm. If the gain on each piece is N10, 20 or more, you can expect to make a profit of N2, 000, N4000 or more before 12pm. Take note though, transportation might take a bite out of the gain. People in your house and neighborhood will buy from you and you can approach local stores to buy from you and sell to their customers. Sometimes, when I was broke, and had raw coconut I have not processed into vco, I took the coconut to market and sold them off quickly for immediate cash. That was when I realize the power of cash crop. It is money. Many families and individuals do this business and make good profit from it that sustains them.There are more women in the business than men, but that does not mean men don't do it. I used to approach people who own coconut trees in their premises to buy the fruit on the tree. That is a cheaper but tasking way to obtain cheap coconut one can resell. Some even go as far as Ghana to buy coconut and bring down to Nigeria to sell here at good prices where they still make money. Two of my suppliers in New Benin Market obtain their coconut from Ghana Some sellers sell in bags or counting.To make an impact as coconut seller, you must be able to buy in bags and have regular supply and a nice location.

2.Another coconut business you can start, and keep a low profile at is coconut oil or virgin coconut oil production. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, à miicro scale production target of 20 liters monthly is okay, this is about processing 300 coconut monthly into virgin coconut oil. At a market price of 5,000-, 8,000 per liter (depending on location), a micro scale producer with a good marketing strategy and smart network can earn 100,00-160,000 selling his virgin coconut oil to targeted clients in his state of residence. The more awareness he can raise, the more he may be able to attract new clients. But if you let greed push you, into investiting in the business big time, well, unless the Nigerian economic situation improves in the foreseeable future, such investment may come with great risks in the future. At that micro level, you can keep producing at bearable cost. But going medium to large scale, is so capital intensive that, your chances of survival in a country like Nigeria that imports coconut from Ghana is slim. So, if you want to do virgin coconut oil business at micro scale level, I can encourage you to go for it. Anything beyond that, in Nigeria, it is risky. If you produce 20 litres of virgin coconut oil and at the end of the month, after removing all your cost, you made a profit of 50,000-75, 000, is that not okay to keep one goingly monthly in this Buhari regime? Me i think so! One of the advantages of producing virgin coconut oil even at that micro level is that, you will always be touching money.. People around you will always be asking you for it and on those days, you might be broke, people will just come and give you money, asking you to produce for them or give them the product if you have in stock. I cant recall how many times, God saved me like this, when I was broke. The girls in my neighborhood,both those who wanted to lose weight and those who have skin problems, would trace me, give me the cash even though I didn’t have the product and asked me to produce it for them. These customers, in turn told other people who would call and say they heard virgin coconut oil deos this and that. I would say yes, and they wouldlike, is it available? If i said no, they ask when it will available or even deposit for me to produce for them. Take note, don’t talk to illiterates about virgin coconut oil. Many of them don’t know what It is, they don’t appreciate it and do not get excited about it. All my customers are usually enlightened women and girls that know whats up. They are the still the ones that buy it till tomorrow.

3.Produce Cosmetics: As a producer of virgin coconut oil, you can venture into hand made, luxury virgin coconut oil soap and coconut milk soap. Soap is an every day thing. You can never go wrong if you branch into the handmade luxury coconut milk soap. Prices ranges from N250, 500 to N2000. With innovative branding and packaging, you can sell these soaps to everyone around you, stores and Facebook and internet .

4.Produce Body creams and lotions: You can convert your virgin coconut oil into creams, baby lotion, hair lotion, lip balm, after shave, sex lubricant etc. It comes down to knowing what you are doing and of course packaging. I convert virgin coconut oil into all these product.As for hair oils that promote quick hair growth, I add curry leaf, almond and other spices that boost hair growth. I slap label on the container and sell them as Indian herbal hair tonic. Put virgin coconut oil in container, add perfume and it becomes bay lotion, body lotion etc.

5.Making dessicated coconut flakes and flour is a good business idea, but not a small business or micro business idea. It requires a lot of standard manufacturing and packaging processes, machines and compliance with the rules. Besides, this is not a product that will become any popular soon in the nearest future in Nigeria. But many big time companies have invested in it in Europe and America and are making money from it as well. This coconut product is an option for people with deep pocket.

6.Coconut water: Yea, another highly popular coconut product big time investors in western societies are making money from, is coconut water. If you can preserve and package coconut water, and get nafdac approval, o boy, you will certainly make money in Nigeria. But take note, coconut water has a very short shelf life. Less than 4 hours after opening a coconut, it spoils and attracts flies. To keep it from rapid deterioration, most people refrigerate it. If you can get the secret to preserving it, you can start a business by packaging it for sale! Then the sky is your limit. Many companies in Asia export coconut water overseas and make huge amount of money from this coconut product alone. You can package it like caprisun juice or like Red Bull energy drink. Coconut water is marketed globally as a natural health product and taken as energy drink by millions of people in the world.Coconut water preservation and packaging is an opportunity only those with deep pocket can tap.

7.Coconut Milk and Coconut Cream: Just like dessicated coconut, coconut water, these are products obtained from coconut that are not popular locally but are generating profit for companies that invest in them overseas in Asia, and export them globally. Requires high level of technology and investment, in countries with abundant coconut plantations.

8.Catering, baking and foods: if you want to taste the kind of fried rice, stew, soup, fried fish, fried meat, fried snail , popcorn, chin chin, plaintain chips , akara and other foods you have never in yourlife before tasted , prepare it with virgin coconut oil! You are gonna love it it. The taste changes completely into coconutty taste. If you are planning a special occasion like marriage, birth day, anniversary, club meetings and parties for special people, get virgin coconut oil to prepare the meal for your special guests. They would love the taste and indeed remember the occasion for the coconut taste of the meal you served!

Therefore small business owners in the line of catering, frying and cooking can increase their potential to make money by adding food recipes made with virgin coconut oil. I think a time would come when we should be able to buy popcorns, fried chickens, fried snails, meat, fish, yam, akara prepared fully with virgin coconut oil or partly at restuarants, hotels, fast food outlets and certain hangouts in this Nigeria, when people realize how much they are missing out from the cool coconutty taste of food. If I wanted to make more money as a restaurant owner all I needed to do, is add new recipes of meals prepared with vco and introduce them to my special clients or mix a little virgin coconut into all my cooking oils, for special and light coconutty effect. In acountry like Nigeria where we like flexing, providing uniques tasting foods means more money for enterprising businesses. In the same vein, caterers, want to introduce virgin coconut oil to their clients, people planning for special occasions like marriage and parties, as special cooking oil for such ocassions. Of course any meal prepared with virgin coconut oil is sold at premium prices. If you fry things for sale you can add new products by frying some with virgin coconut oil or oilmixed with vco. When some customers realize they can get coconutty pop corn, fried meat, fish, etc from you or your restaurant, they might just keep coming back to buy your new coconutty chop chop.

9. Finally, one of the best coconut based business you can do for a longtime without fear of ever losing is coconut farming. Coconut farming is about planting coconut farms , and waiting patiently for 3 years to start making money selling one of the word's greatest cash crop, coconut. 50 to 100 coconut treesare what you need to knocking on the door of a millionaire in 3-4years time. If you have a large piece of land, say 100 by 100 or 100ft by 200ft, why not start thinking of how to plant coconut on them, and cultivating them for the few years? This is a good way to escape hardship in Nigeria forever! Agric pays.

So, there you have, types of small add some big coconut business anyone can start. The above options differently to different people.What works for A may not work for you .What works for you, may not work for B. All of us are different you know. And there are many other business around coconut you can start, these are just the few. As hard as coconut is, that is also how hard it is make money from. But as sweet as the inside meat is, that is also how sweet your profit can be when customers starts coming round and demanding for your product. Remember coconut based products are not for poor people, all over the world including Nigeria. They always command higher prices.

Only exceptional people go into the business. If you are gonna produce the oil, then you must be ready to enter the cosmetic line or food processing line in Nigeria, if you are gonna succeed. Have no illussions, all coconut businesses are not get rich quick business. Have you seen a production business that is a get rich quick business?

I have not. So, have no illusions about overnight wealth when thinking about coconut businesses.

Hopefully,from April I will post some videos on point 2,3, 4 and 8 above.

On point 2, the videos will focus on producing vco from different methods like:
1/fermentation
2.Boiling
3.Sun light
4. Low pressure extraction using locally made expellers.

The good thing about knowing how to produce vco is that, you can follow the principles behind the process to obtain oils from :
1.Avocado pear
2.Sesame
3.Groundnut
4.Almonds and any seeds or nuts you can press mechanically to express oil.
Thank you.

Boss of Coconut � in Benin City

You really know your onion in this business

I grew up in Benin, that's my base

I intend cultivating Coconut � on 12 acres, but I don't think processing coconut for vco is feasible due to the poverty in the land

Do you know how marketable is cocopeat in Nigeria, is made from Coconut husk

Keep it up