Banana chips have become one of the more popular snacks in the snack food market. They're not just sold as a standalone packaged snack but are also used in breakfast cereals, baked goods, nut mixes and as a food ingredient. So how to go about setting up a banana chips manufacturing company?

1. Raw Materials: Ensuring a Stable Supply of Bananas

Bananas are the raw material for banana chips and the quality of the bananas has a direct bearing on the final product in terms of flavour, colour, yield and processing costs. You therefore need to look at the banana growing and supply situation in the area prior to setting up a factory.

 

2. Facility: Strategic Planning for a Banana Chips Manufacturing Company

The plant is the heart of the banana chip business. The site selection is absolutely vital as it will determine the layout of the production line, the logistics of banana movement, the location of the equipment, the storage capacity available and the potential for future expansion.

When selecting a facility, consider the following key factors:

Facility size: determine the floor area required based on the planned production capacity, the manufacturing processes and the number of pieces of equipment. In addition to the production area you will of course need space for raw material storage, packaging, finished product storage, offices, changing rooms and sanitary facilities.

Location: Ideally the site should be located either adjacent to banana plantations or within an industrial area with good transport links. This will obviously help to minimise the cost of transporting the raw materials in and the cost of getting the finished product out.

Production layout: arrange the production area to follow the flow of the manufacturing process (in, wash, peel, slice, fry/dry, cool, season, pack). This will minimise the cross movement of materials and improve efficiency.

Sanitary conditions: the plant must be in line with local food safety and hygiene regulations. Floors must be easy to clean and have good drainage. Walls and the production areas themselves must be constructed of materials appropriate for a food processing environment.

Furthermore the facility’s power, water, drainage, ventilation and fire safety must be checked prior to installation as it would be very undesirable to find the infrastructure isn't up to the requirements of production only after the equipment has been installed.

 

3. Equipment: Selecting the Right Banana Chips Production Line

Production equipment is one of the key investments for a banana chips factory. The type of line you end up with will vary depending on the product you're making, the method of processing and the required production capacity. You can go for a semi-automatic line or a fully automatic line.

It's vital to point out that the manufacturing processes for various types of banana chips are different. You'll need to establish what type of product you're making prior to setting up a factory and then choose the appropriate equipment.

 

4. Labor: Efficient Staffing for the Production Team

Even with fully automated production lines you still need a certain number of people in a banana chip factory.

Firstly staff to be assigned to raw material receiving and pre-processing (i.e. sorting, washing, peeling of the bananas). Secondly operators to be assigned to the various stages of production (slicing, frying, drying and packaging).

The factory will also need quality control staff to carry out inspections on the raw materials, the semi-finished goods and the finished products to ensure that they are in line with food safety standards. For a larger operation you'll also need people to look after the equipment, the warehouse, procurement, sales and admin.

 

5. Energy: Advance Planning for Water, Electricity, and Fuel Supplies

Banana chips production is a multi-stage process (washing, slicing, frying, drying, packaging) with each piece of equipment having its own energy requirements.

Electricity: all the washing machines, slicers, conveyors, packaging machines and certain of the heaters will require electricity. The total power requirement of all the equipment must be worked out in advance and an appropriate power supply system provided for the production line.

Water: for washing the banana, for cleaning the equipment, for general facility hygiene. There has to be a reliable water supply and in accordance with local environmental regs there will be a wastewater treatment plant installed.

Heating energy: fryers and dryers will generally be a continuous requirement. Depending on the local energy prices and availability the choice of heating (electric, gas etc) will be made.

 

6. Food Safety and Production Management

Banana chips are a food product so food safety and quality control are paramount.

Before you get into any formal production you need to be clear on the local requirements as regards food production licensing, hygiene management and labelling. You then need to have in place systems for the inspection of raw materials, control of processing parameters, cleaning of equipment, testing of product and batch traceability.

 

Setting up a banana chips company requires a full-scale approach and you've got to consider everything from the availability of raw materials through to the state of the facility, the equipment you're going to use, your people, your energy supply, your market and your food safety. The availability of your raw materials and the equipment you select are in particular going to be key factors in determining the long term viability of the operation.

 

From process design through to equipment manufacture, installation, commissioning and operator training we can help the investor to set up a well structured and highly efficient banana chips production plant.