Making the Most of Banana January 2009
Banana juice - a recipe for success
Mariam Asigri: Fruit juice manufacturer
Summary:
Mariam Asigri, a teacher from Kumasi, Ghana, used to make banana juice at Christmas time as a gift for friends and family. But her juice was so popular she decided to make it a business. Now the director of MASIG Natural Fruits Industries, she explains how the juice is made, and her marketing strategy.
Suggested introduction:
What's the secret of being a successful entrepreneur? Perhaps most important is to have the courage of your convictions. If you think you can make a product that will sell, well, you'll never know till you try. Which is exactly what Mariam Asigri did, and now this teacher from Kumasi in Ghana is running a successful company: MASIG Natural Fruits Industries. And her leading product? Banana fruit juice. She told Busani Bafana her recipe.
Tape in:
MASIG banana juice is made...
Tape out:
...I expand I'll start exporting.
Closing Announcement:
Mariam Asigri, who turned her domestic production of banana juice into a successful business. She was talking to Busani Bafana.
Making the most of it:
Visit, or invite in a fruit juice maker to explain what they think of banana juice as a business.
Further information:
Mariam Asigri,
Managing Director,
P.O. Box UP 520, Kumasi,
Tel: 024-3215698 / 0277-895004
Transcript
Asigri
MASIG banana juice is made from pure banana. We make the banana into pulp. There's a little bit of water. We strain it, put a little bit of additives and then that's all.
Bafana
Would you kindly describe for which market have you made this banana juice?
Asigri
Yes, it is for the local market in Ghana, because locally I distribute to supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, schools, so many areas in Ghana.
Bafana
I'm convinced you have added value to the banana by making juice. Would you say banana is good business?
Asigri
Yes, it is good business. If you get very good market, it is very lucrative.
Bafana
Does it sell well?
Asigri
It sells well in the country, because looking at the Ghanaian market, most of the time what we have, the juices we have are commonly orange and pineapple. So I decided to experiment with banana, and I came out with this, so it is the first of its kind in the country.
Bafana
What inspired you?
Asigri
I am a teacher by profession. I used to do these juices just for the home, and then give them to neighbours like at Christmas and other festive occasions. They would drink and say, 'It's very nice, it's tasty' and so on. So one day I just decided to come out commercial.
Bafana
What particular qualities did they like in your banana juice?
Asigri
The taste, the aroma, everything. It is completely different from pineapple or orange, which is very common in the Ghanaian market.
Bafana
Tell me how have you gone about packaging it, in terms of putting the labels, and in terms of shelf life, if you could just describe that to me?
Asigri
Well, if you look at the juice, after processing it has to be sterilised. Then I fill it, or I bottle it at a certain temperature, and this can stay for over 7 months. So the shelf life is over 7 months. It can even stay up to one year, but I have limited it to 7 months.
Bafana
The bottles that you have actually put the juice, in what quantities do you bottle your banana juice?
Bafana
Any particular reason for this?
Asigri
That is very handy. Anybody who wants to buy just picks it and off. I used to package 500 mls too, but that one was a little bit expensive. So I decided to come down to the 330 mls, to meet everybody's pocket.
Bafana
Are you making profit from it?
Asigri
Yes, I am making profit, otherwise I would have been out of business by now.
Bafana
How have you been able to maintain the quality of your juice?
Asigri
We have the Food and Drugs Board in Ghana. They periodically examine the product. You cannot come out with any product in Ghana without being certified by Food and Drugs Board, so they periodically examine it so that the quality is always there.
Bafana
How do you market your juice?
Asigri
I have people who come to take and send to the other regions of Ghana. They in turn will distribute it to the various supermarkets, the shops, especially these filling station shops, the Shell shops, Total filling stations and so on. And I myself, where I live in Kumasi, I use my van and then take some out, or my boys take some out, and distribute to the other shops. I have a contract with Shell. Apart from Shell, I give to other shops too.
Bafana
Given the network and the market that you have just told me about, any chance that you would like to put this product on the export market?
Asigri
Yes, at the moment I'm doing it on a small scale. So I want to expand, and when I expand I'll start exporting. End of track.
