GOURMET BUSINESS
HELLO GREAT PEOPLE, ITS SO GOOD TO KNOW YOU ARE READING THIS PIECE.
HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT STARTING ANY FOOD BUSINESS OF OWN ?
AND I KNOW YOU MAY BE WONDERING WHAT TYPE OF FOOD BUSINESS YOU CAN GET INVOLVED IN! I HAVE SUGGESTION HERE!
WHY NOT THINK ABOUT CAT FISH BUSINESS!
RECENTLY, I INTERVIEWED A YOUNG NIGERIAN WHO IS INTO CAT FISH BUSINESS, HIS NAME IS UGO CKWUKWU UKWUEGBU, HE IS THE MANAGER OF DIVINE FISH FARMS. HE IS BEEN DOING THIS BUSINESS SINCE 2008.
WHEN HE VISITED THE GOURMET GUIDE STUDIO, ON UNILAG RADIO 103.1FM TO NARRATE HIS STORY, I WAS HIGHLY INSPIRED! BELOW ARE SOME PICTURES HE DISPLAYED.
I WILL ALSO PASTE THE STORY OF HOW IT ALL STARTED UNTIL NOW, ITS REALLY A SUCCESS STORY YOU CAN IDENTIFY WITH.
THE BEAUTY OF CAT FISH [FRESH OR DRY]
http://www.divinefish.com.ng
HERE IS THE FISH FARMING STORY, READ AND GET IN TOUCH WITH ME OR WITH HIM, SO THAT YOU TOO CAN START SOMETHING EXCEPTIONAL THAT YOU WILL PROFIT!
EXERPT OF THE INTERVIEW:
"Divine Fish Farm began in 2008 when my mother received a loan of six hundred thousand naira (=N=600,000). She used the money to construct three fish ponds in a portion of our compound near Sango Ota, Ogun State.
We stocked two thousand pieces of catfish fingerlings in the ponds, fed them to table-size and sold them after six months to market women who come in groups to our house to buy fresh catfish wholesale. These market women retail the catfish in nearby markets.
The running cost of growing the first set of catfish was about three hundred thousand naira and we made sales of about four hundred thousand naira.
Today we can grow two thousand pieces of catfish with three hundred thousand naira and sell them for four hundred thousand naira after four months. What is more is that we can still do better with our current capacity.
We have made improvements since we began the business six years ago in 2008. For example, last year, 2013, we invested in a brick oven for processing our catfish.
Adding value to our catfish by processing them allows us get better returns. The main effect is that a catfish growth and sales cycle that used to take us six months now happens in four months.
Processing our catfish also means we can have customers far from our farm. For example we have a customer in a catering school in Surulere, Lagos. We also have a customer in the United States of America (USA) to whom we export processed catfish".
Divine Fish Farm as a Business
"The first thing anyone will ask you if you say you want to start your own catfish farm is if you have reliable source of water. (This of course assumes you already have the piece of land on which you want to construct or install your pond).
You will also need feed for your catfish, electricity to pump water, a little knowledge about how to grow the catfish, attention to the business, patience and keen interest to see you through each cycle of the business which begins when you stock the catfish as fingerlings and ends after you sell them all four to six months later.
In the beginning we relied a lot on the experience of other catfish farmers in our locality around Sango Ota, Ogun State.
We went further by going on the Internet to research catfish farming. We got materials from a University in the Mississippi are of the USA which were very useful.
We learned from the materials that factors necessary for optimal catfish growth are quality of the fresh water, quality of the feed, feeding, and surface area of the fish pond in which the catfish grow.
We have also received business training along the way because at the end of the day the catfish farm is a business and it is important to make profit to pay the bills and contribute to putting bread on the table.
We have learned to balance the books, improve our marketing and broaden our customer base.
For me it has been a great practical business learning experience. A catfish farm business with an annual capacity of six thousand fish and one million three hundred thousand naira turnover is a micro business.
With my experience in the business it would not be too much trouble for me to scale up the business or even to venture into a new agro-based business".
Gourmet of Catfish http://www.divinefish.com.ng
Fresh catfish is a delicacy. It is widely enjoyed as catfish pepper soup in homes. Catfish pepper soup is popularly called ‘point and kill’ in bars and restaurants.
Fresh catfish is also great for cooking stews.
There is also processed catfish. The processing in our farm is a systematic smoking and drying of fresh catfish in brick ovens using firewood and charcoal.
The catfish that emerges at the end of the process is a tasty delight. It will transform your soups and stews. You can also use it to cook jollof rice and yam porridge.
Expectant mothers love pepper soup cooked with dried fish.
Some Nigerians even use the processed catfish to drink garri. Once I delivered processed catfish to a doctor at his clinic in Surulere and right in front of me he opened one pack and started chewing on a piece of fish. He so loved it that he finished one whole piece before I left his office.
Nutritional Benefits of Catfish
Catfish helps you meet your protein needs and boosts your intake of vitamins and healthy fats and fatty acids.
Catfish is low in calories and fat.
Eating catfish is a tasty way to boost your intake of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Both of these nutrients play a part in heart and cognitive health. Consumption of these fatty acids is thought to be associated with reduction in blood pressure and reduced risk for certain cancers, inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, and even mental decline.
Catfish Farming as an Avenue for Self Employment
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said that if you want to become a billionaire then you should go into farming. Obasanjo is a farmer so he should know.
Food will always sell, and in Nigeria with a population of one hundred and sixty million people, there is a large market for good food at the right price.
I encourage young Nigerians who have the interest and who have access to the factors of production needed to start a catfish farming business to try it.
Catfish farming is something you can do in your backyard if you live in a compound owned by your family.
If you have the opportunity and the will, go start something. When you succeed it will open other doors for you.
But then it does not have to be catfish farming. Nigeria is blessed with so much arable land in the rural areas and if you come from an area where farming is practiced extensively you can give it a try. It is a move that will require a lot of bravery but if you have completed higher education then you should be sufficiently educated to pull it off.
Agriculture has a long chain of production which includes planning, production (crop production, fruit production, and livestock production), harvesting, processing, marketing, distribution and sales. An enterprising young Nigerian should be able to find somewhere to plug his skills into.
You do not have to be engaged in the physical farming itself to be involved in the economy of agriculture in Nigeria.
Furthermore, agricultural methods in Nigeria’s rural areas are largely primitive and if you are equipped with some capital and the right education you can do wonders.
One thing I am sure about is that there is vast potential in agriculture and one piece of cheering news is that government at the state and national levels in Nigeria are allocating resources to implement agricultural reforms in Nigeria. One of their problems is that not enough young people are tapping into their programmes.
•
Recipe for 6 servings
