Shea nut processing – possibilities and problems in the choice of …cdn1.practicalaction.org/f/o/4d927d5f-2cc8-4a63-a71d... · 2014-09-07 · the hydraulic presses are no longer

The role of women in technology is a topicof great interest to many working inrural development. Many periodicals havepublished special editions on the subjectwith specific emphasis on improvedworking conditions for women. TheUNIFEM Food Cycle Technology Manualsdescribe technology alternatives for small-scale processing of various commoditiesand illustrate their application throughcase studies. However, it is often difficultto find a suitable solution for a particulargroup of women. This article by DomienBruinsma not only illustrates thecomplexity of the problems involved, butalso points to the opportunities that existin the selection of technology, based on acase study of shea nut processing.

Very often, insufficient basic information isavailable to allow the evaluation of all pos-sible technological alternatives, so makingit difficult to meet the specific needs anddemands of women involved in a particu-lar activity. Sometimes, a technology whichappears to be appropriate, will be tooexpensive and of too great a capacity to beprofitable and manageable by a group ofwomen. On analysis, two distinct problemareas can be identified. The first relates tothe processing capacity of the equipment

which, to run profitably, requires the pro-cessing of a minimum amount of rawmaterial. Not only does raw material of thecorrect quality have to be available in suffi-cient quantities, but also a market has toexist for the final product. Secondly, tech-nical requirements and maintenance activi-ties frequently demand business manage-ment skills which often exceed thewomen’s capabilities. The introduction oftechnology therefore needs to be closelymonitored and supported.

Clearly then, the selection of an appro-priate technological solution is a complexproblem. To arrive at an appropriatechoice, it is essential to include thoserequesting the technology in both a socio-economic and technical evaluation of thealternatives available.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SHEAThe shea tree (Butyrospermum parkii)grows abundantly in semi-arid areas ofwest Africa. Countries with the highestdensity of shea trees are Mali, BurkinaFaso, Togo, Benin, Nigeria and the Sudan.Each tree can produce on average 15 to20kg of fresh fruit, which yield 3 to 4kg ofdry kernels. The kernel contains 42–48%oil of a relatively high melting point.Extraction of this oil provides an edibleshea butter which is used in cooking.

Shea butter is the main source of fat inthe rural zones where it is produced. It isused in food, soap manufacture, tradi-tional drugs and cosmetic products. It hasalso long been used for lighting andalthough the use of kerosene lamps isincreasing, shea oil lamps are still com-monly used. Shea butter also has anexport market for use in cosmetics, phar-maceuticals and confectionery.

While almost all rural women in sheaareas harvest and store the fruit at thebeginning of the rainy season, the methods they use for storing and prepar-ing the nuts vary from region to region.Harvesting, preparation and storage arecarried out by individuals, but processingis more often a group activity and, accord-ing to local customs, it is organised at

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Intermediate Technology Food Chain 22

Shea butter alsohas an export

market for use incosmetics,

pharmaceuticalsand

confectionery.

Pounding – traditionalprocess

Shea nut processing – possibilitiesand problems in the choice oftechnology for women

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family or group level. During the dry sea-son, the women typically spend two daysa week on butter production either forfamily use or for sale in the market.

BUTTER PRODUCTIONThe production of shea butter is part ofvillage tradition. During processing thewomen sing and clap their hands forencouragement. This is necessary becausethe work is arduous. Typically the processinvolves the following steps. First the nutsare dried and shelled and the kernelsremoved. The kernels are then crushedand the crushed material, called grits, isroasted in a pot over a fire. The womenthen pound the roasted grits in a mortarproducing a coarse paste. This is thenfinely ground between two stones to pro-duce a smooth, reddish brown paste,which is put into a large container. Wateris added and the mass is churned manu-ally until the butter floats and becomes awhitish colour. The butter is separatedand is washed repeatedly with warmwater. It is then placed in a pot andheated to evaporate any remaining water.During this last step any fibrous impuritiessettle at the bottom of the pot. The liquidbutter is collected in a container where,upon cooling, it solidifies. The pre-treat-ment drying and pounding differ fromone region to another and this can have aconsiderable influence on the final butterquality. The actual extraction proceduresalso vary and nowadays mechanicalmilling, churning and pressing are becom-ing more common.

There are several stages where mecha-nisation and improvement of the processwould be possible. This article describesdifferent improved technologies whichhave been tested by development pro-jects. All are intended to reduce the mostarduous and dirtiest tasks; manual pound-

ing, grinding and churning. In some casesthe use of mechanical presses to extractoil has been chosen. In others poundinghas been replaced by power milling fol-lowed by traditional manual churning.Other systems also mechanise the churn-ing process. The five alternatives evalu-ated in this article are summarised below:

1) Many villages now have a private orcommunity mill which can replace tradi-tional pounding and grinding.

2) In Ghana, a small engineering com-pany, ‘SIS Engineering,’ has developed amechanical churning and washingmachine with co-operation from theGRATIS project (Ghana Regional Appro-priate Technology Industrial Service).

3) In Mali another extraction system,the Mockarite, involves the use of a cen-trifuge to replace churning and washing.

4) Two types of press, a spindle pressand a hydraulic press, have been testedand distributed in Burkina Faso and Malito replace all processing steps frompounding to washing.

5) A manually turned roaster has beendeveloped to replace the traditional potover a fire method.

Table 1 summarises each of these alter-natives compared with the traditional sys-tem and shows indicative time savings.About one hundred hydraulic presseshave been installed, mainly in Mali, andover twenty spindle presses in BurkinaFaso. Three Mockarite machines are oper-ating in Mali and about twenty SIS Engi-neering machines in north Ghana.

COMPARISON OF THE DIFFERENTMETHODSAn important claim of the mechanisedalternatives is that they reduce processingtime. Various information sources havebeen used to calculate the duration of thedifferent operations shown in Table 1. For

4


The pre-treatment

drying andpounding differ

from oneregion to

another andthis can have a

considerableinfluence on

the final butterquality.

Table 1

Method A B C D E FTraditional Mill SIS Eng Mockarite Spindle Hydraulic

Press Press

Total time (mins) to process 516 219 117 87 232 19210kg shea kernels

Time saved over method A – 58% 77% 83% 55% 63%

Capacity – kg per day _ 400 260 420 125 125

Capital cost CFA – 1,100 988 5,030 596 996

Break-even tonnes/annum – 30–40 50 50 17 25

Days operation for break even – 75–100 200 120 140 200

the traditional method, the mill and thespindle press information is used from theKarite Shea project in Koudougou, BurkinaFaso. Sources of information about theMockarite are CMDT (Compagnie Maliennede Development des Textiles) and CEPAZE(Centre d’Echanges et Promotion des Arti-sans en Zones a Equiper, Paris). GRATISinformation is used for SIS Engineeringequipment. In order to compare the differ-ent processes we need to examine each in alittle more detail and the assumptions thathave been made.

In methods B, E and F, crushing is car-ried out using a manual crusher developedby the shea project. This machine resem-bles that used to shell groundnuts. In theSIS system, (method C) – a motor drivenmill is used to grind the kernels. All thesystems are based on the use of a manualrotary roaster, except for the SIS machinewhich uses the traditional cooking pot.When using the spindle press (E), rotaryroasters are replaced by solar ovens whichprovide sufficient pre-treatment. It has beenfound that the hydraulic press requiresslightly less labour than the spindle press.

The traditional system of boiling, puri-fying and decanting to clarify the butter, isused throughout without any improve-ments. For the purpose of the calcula-tions, it is assumed that the productobtained before purification is similar inall cases. In fact, there are slight differ-ences in quality at this stage. For example,the Mockarite provides a clearer product.

BENEFITS OF IMPROVEDTECHNOLOGIESAll these improved technologies yieldhigher quantities of butter than the tradi-tional method (35–42% compared to25–28%). However, if compared to large-scale processing the yields are low. Onepositive aspect of the presses is that it ispossible to obtain butter from nuts whichcould not be used in the traditionalmethod. It has been noted that women incertain villages, who know that their nutsare of a poor quality, are prepared to waita long time to use the press. Interestinglyother women with nuts of a good qualitytend to use the traditional method ratherthan waste time waiting.

An attempt was made to compare thetechnologies in economic terms by includ-ing investment costs, processing capacityand the reduction of the time womenhave to spend on processing. In this

respect, a SIS Engineering machine or amill is the most efficient. The Mockarite,despite giving the greatest reduction inworkload, is the most expensive option.However, this kind of economic evalua-tion is over-simplistic and should not beused as the sole measure of a system.

There are differences in qualitydepending on the method used, but tomake comparison simpler, this aspect hasnot been evaluated. The concept of ‘taskdifficulty’ also needs to be considered. Forexample, presses reduce the amount ofwork but still involve heavy manual oper-ations. The type of physical movementsrequired to operate the two types ofpresses are very different and so are rateddifferently. In general, women find itmore difficult to operate a hydraulic pressthan a spindle press.

To date, operating costs have not beenincluded in the calculations, but clearlyfor all motorised procedures the cost ofdiesel has to be taken into account. TheMockarite and the SIS Engineeringmachine have the greatest fuel consump-tion. On the other hand, the reduction inwood and water consumption has to beoffset against diesel costs. The greatestsavings in wood use are noted whenusing the Mockarite and to a lesser extent,presses. Ease of operation and mainte-nance are other factors requiring consider-ation. In Mali, for example, the majority ofthe hydraulic presses are no longer in usedue to problems maintaining the hydraulicjack. Spindle presses appear to be botheasier to use and maintain.

Finally, a very important considerationis the minimum throughput required torun the equipment profitably, in addition to

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It has beennoted thatwomen in

certain villages,who know that

their nuts areof a poor

quality, areprepared towait a long

time to use thepress.

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The mockarite

the complexity of the technology, togetherwith its management and maintenancerequirements. There is insufficient dataavailable to calculate a precise break-evenpoint for each process. All five systemshave different costs and different dailythroughput. Whilst the spindle press is thecheapest system, it has the lowest through-put. Whereas although the motorised mill isexpensive, it has a much higher throughputrate and can be used to mill other crops.The break-even point is probably lowestfor the spindle press (around 17 tons ofnuts/year, corresponding to 140 days oper-ation/year). The hydraulic press has abreak-even capacity of 25 tons/year, i.e.200 days of production. For this reason it isonly economic if other oilseeds areprocessed. The break-even point for mills isgenerally between 30 to 40 tons/year andthey need to be in operation for 75 to 100days. The advantage of mills however, isthat they can be used to mill cereals whenshea is not available. The Mockarite has abreak-even point of about 50 tons/year andmust be operational for 120 days, with thepossibility of being used as a cereal mill aswell. For the SIS Engineering machine, thefigures are probably about the same, butthis means that it needs to be in operationfor 200 days and probably also needs to beused to process other oilseeds and/or tomill cereals.

EVALUATION WITH THE WOMENAny comparison of the methods will onlybe valid if it is carried out with the targetgroup and takes into account their partic-ular circumstances. The women shouldcompare for themselves the advantagesand disadvantages of the various alterna-tives, as well as the organisational aspects

of the business activity. It is extremelyimportant that information is exchangedwith other villages and that their equip-ment is tried out during visits between vil-lages. It was demonstrated how importantwomen were during the developmentstage of the SIS Engineering machine forchurning. Their observations with regardto yield and butter quality are extremelyimportant. The women know best how tojudge the quality and yield of the endproduct by the traditional method and thisknowledge is handed down from motherto daughter from one generation to thenext. They also understand the marketrequirements and opportunities. For thisreason, it is important to communicatewith the women producing the butter todiscuss any new technology. Finally,women can give an estimate of the eco-nomic value of the investment in terms oftime saved and the reduction of arduouswork. In this way women can indicatewhat price they would be willing to payfor the labour reduction achieved.

In conclusion, it is not a simple matterto evaluate the advantages and disadvan-tages of a particular type of technology.The best option may vary from one situa-tion to another. For example, a largewealthy village which already owns a mill,may well decide to purchase a secondmill exclusively for processing shea, butdriven from the existing motor. A villagewith no mill, but with sufficient purchas-ing power, may opt for either a Mockariteor a SIS Engineering machine. The quan-tity of shea available and the amount oforganisational experience at village levelwill also influence choices. A villagewhich does not have the purchasingpower to run a mill profitably, or formotorisation in general, but with sufficientshea, could consider the acquisition of aspindle press. The most important point isto involve the women processors andallow them to genuinely gain experiencewith the technology and to have sufficienttime to come to a decision. Finally, it isessential to choose a system of ownershipand management which will allow theproject to survive.

This article was kindly sent in by Domien Bruinsma, Gruttoweide 119,

6708 BE Wageningen, The Netherlands. Any readers requiring further information

should contact the author.

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The advantageof mills

however, is thatthey can beused to mill

cereals whenshea is notavailable.

Anycompanison of

the methodswill only bevalid if it is

carried out withthe target

group and takesinto account

their particularcircumstances.

The hammer mill

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FOOD INDUSTRIES MANUAL – 24TH EDITIONEdited by M.D.Ranken, R.C.Kill and C.J.G.Baker. Published by Blackie A&P. ISBN 0-7514-0404-7

This large book with over 600 pages is a standard foodindustry reference work that should be available in thelibraries of universities and institutions involved infood processing. Early editions read rather like a dic-tionary but this new revised edition has 19 chapterseach dealing with a main product group. Each chapterstarts with a general product flow chart, which is thencovered in detail. This book is easy to use with techni-cal aspects simply and clearly described. The DairyProducts flow chart is shown as an example.

TRADITIONAL FOODS: PROCESSING FOR PROFITEdited by Peter Fellows and published by IT Publica-tions. ISBN 1 85339 228 6. 1997 £25. Available fromIT Publications. Reviewed by Dr Nigel Poulter, CropPost-Harvest Programme Manager, Natural ResourcesInstitute, Chatham Maritime, Kent, UK.

This book aims to provide small-scale processors anddevelopment workers in tropical regions of the worldwith basic information on the science of food process-ing and safety, together with ideas for new orimproved products in which they may wish to investtheir efforts. The first and shorter section of the bookdeals with all important basic concepts of effectiveprocessing, including the principles of quality assur-ance, product handling and food safety. The secondand larger section provides details of the productionstages and key points of interest for a very diverserange of products which could be prepared from thecrops, livestock and fish that may be found in thesetropical regions. Finally, the book provides a short listof appropriate references for further reading whichcould serve as sources of additional technical andbusiness advice.

Over 95 product and processing profiles, drawn upfrom around the world, form the main bulk of the book. These range from rich fruitcake, beer and breadfruit oil, through tomato paste and papain to popped sorghum,dried cinnamon and salted fish. The concept developed by the editor in providingdescriptions for this very diverse range of products has been to raise awareness amongthe readership of the options and variations that exist for them to diversify and toexploit market opportunities for quality assured products. This is most certainly a wor-thy concept and the book will stimulate readers to think more widely about their enter-prises and experiment with new product ideas. It is to the editor’s credit that he hasdrawn together profiles from around the world and been able to bring to us this valu-able text based on the practical experiences of his consultant authors.

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Heat treatment of milkPage 85

Raw milk testingPage 82

Raw milk intakePage 81

EvaporationPage 89

HomogenizationPage 89

Bottling andcartoning

Page 93

CheesePage 103

Milkpowders

Page 117

DryingPage 115

Skimmed milkPage 131

SeparationPage 112

Dairyspreads

Page 130

ButterPage 127

Wheyproducts

Page 124

WheyPage 124

CreamPage123

Cream liqueursPage 124

Dairy dessertsPage 135

Ice creamPage 136

Miscellaneous productsPage 131

Yoghurt and otherfermented products

Page 100

Starter culturesPage 98

HygienePage 79Page 95

Quality aspects

Finished producttesting

Page 97

Milk compositionPage 76

The weaning period, from around 4–6months until 2 years of age, is a criticalperiod of a child’s life when it is most atrisk from malnutrition and disease.Adequate nutrition at this stage of life isreflected by physical and mentaldevelopment and achievement in laterlife.

Weaning is the stage when an infantmoves from a diet consisting exclusivelyof breast milk to one which resemblesthat of adults in the community. The tran-sition generally takes place over 18months, with breast milk making an everdecreasing contribution to the diet. Theintroduction of other foods into the diet,is often linked to an increased ingestionof food poisoning organisms that result insickness and diarrhorea. In some societiesadditional foods are introduced into thediet earlier than 4 months of age but thereis no nutritional requirement for this asbreast milk alone is adequate until thisage; furthermore, the practice is harmfuland simply exposes the infant to contami-nated water and food.

For a number of reasons infants areoften weaned directly onto the adult dietwith little or no consideration for theirspecific dietary needs. It may be, forexample, that the local staple is the onlyavailable food and mothers have insuffi-cient income to buy supplementary foods.Infant feeding is time consuming, both inthe food preparation and feeding of themeal. The infant stomach is small and ideally the child should be fed at frequentintervals throughout the day; however,demands on womens time are usually sohigh that there is not enough time forinfant feeding. Where income, availabilityof raw material and time are not con-straints, poor feeding practices can beattributed to ignorance, illiteracy and theadherence to local customs and taboos.

Traditional weaning foods around theworld are generally based on a porridgeor gruel made from the local staple. Forexample, maize, banana, rice, plantain,cassava and wheat. In rural areas whererefrigeration is not an option, gruels madein the morning are left to stand all daywith an increased danger of the growth of

food poisoning micro-organisms(pathogens) and contamination by dustand flies. In addition, in order to makegruels more palatable, mothers oftenwater them down; sometimes after prepa-ration with contaminated water. Althougheasier to eat, diluted gruels are low inenergy and so have to be consumed inlarge amounts to meet the nutritionalneeds of the infant.

Experiences from many countrieshowever, have demonstrated that it ispossible to make improved weaningfoods from local raw materials based onwell understood, traditional, simple, lowcost technologies. Small enterprises andindividual households can make accept-able, nutritious products. Before examin-ing some of these examples we need toconsider the basic requirements of aweaning food.

Nutritional requirements● high energy content● low viscosity, i.e. of an acceptable

thickness/consistency● balanced protein (containing all

essential amino acids)● vitamins (particularly A, D and B group)● minerals (iron, folic acid, calcium)● no anti-nutritional components● pleasant taste/palatable

Weaning foods

8


It is possible tomake improvedweaning foodsfrom local raw

materials basedon well

understood,traditional,

simple, low costtechnologies.

IT

Physical requirements● easy and quick to prepare● easy to consume● adequate shelf life● made from local ingredients● affordable● safe micro-biological quality

The nutritional importance of a balancedprotein composition is well understood inmost cultures but deserves further expla-nation. There are many different types ofprotein and all are made up of longchains of amino-acids. Some of theseamino-acids, in particular two calledlysine and methionine, are often calledlimiting amino-acids, that is to say theyare found in limited amounts in somefoods. Cereal proteins are low in lysinewhile legume proteins are low in methio-nine. The consumption of cereal proteinplus legume protein acts in a complimen-tary manner. This is the reason that manytraditional diets are based on alegume/cereal mix (for example rice pluslentils, maize plus beans).

There are traditional processing methods available from different parts ofthe world, which are intended to improvethe nutritional value of traditional wean-ing foods. These methods can be dividedinto four different categories;

● heating (toasting, roasting, puffing)● adding sprouted or germinated grains● fermentation● fortification

HEATINGThe action of heat on starchy foodscauses the starch to pre-gelatinise whichmakes it easier to digest. Pre-gelatinisedstarch also takes less time to prepare. Forexample, porridge made from toastedmaize will cook in 10 minutes comparedto one and a half hours for untoastedmaize.

Heating can also destroy anti-nutritionalfactors (these block the efficient absorptionof proteins and nutrients into the gut) suchas trypsin inhibitors and some tannins.

An example of a food made by simpletoasting is Pushti, a traditional weaningfood made in India from popped orpuffed wheat. The cooking method is sim-ple and one that is commonly seen inAsia for making puffed rice and for toast-ing peanuts. Cleaned, dehulled wheat ismoistened with a little water and thenadded to a pan containing hot sand at

250–260°C (1kg of grain to 10kg sand).The grain and sand are stirred continu-ously for about 1 minute until all the grainhas ‘puffed’. The mix is then quicklysieved so that the grain does not burn.The puffed wheat grains are then groundto a flour. The wheat flour (700g) is mixedwith soya flour (100g) which has alsobeen roasted over a fire for about 6 min-utes, a process which removes the trypsininhibitors present in soya. Sugar (200g) isalso ground to a fine powder and addedto the flours. In laboratory tests producingPushti, a vitamin mix (1g) was also addedto the final mixture. At the village levelwhere prepared vitamin mixes are notavailable, ground, dried leaves could beadded as a source of vitamin A and iron.

ADDING SPROUTED ORGERMINATED GRAINSSprouted grains, such as barley, millet orsorghum, are rich in an enzyme calledamylase which breaks down starch intosugars, thus making it easier to digest.Sprouted grains are traditionally used inthe malting process to produce beer andthis association is sometimes thought tomake their use unsuitable for weaningfood preparation. However, there is noalcohol produced during sprouting, onlythe conversion of starch to sugars. Inaddition to the breakdown of starch tosugars a major additional benefit is areduction in the viscosity of the food, pro-ducing a sweeter, more palatable food,and thinner gruel.

The process is very simple and canquite easily be carried out at the house-hold level. Cereal grains are allowed tosprout and are then ground into a powderor flour. A smallpinch of theground flour isadded to a pot ofstarchy porridge.After a short timethe viscosity of theporridge decreasesto become liquid.

FERMENTATIONFermentation hassimilar effects togermination ofgrains. The princi-ple is the same,that is, breakingdown the starch

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Children in Peru

into sugars so that it becomes less viscousand is easier to digest. Fermentation alsoimproves the keeping qualities andincreases the safety of foods by causingan increase in acidity which retards thegrowth of pathogenic micro-organismsthat can cause sickness. In many parts ofAfrica milk sugar (lactose) intolerance is aserious problem. For this reason milk iscommonly allowed to ferment, with abreakdown of the lactose, to a yoghurt –a safer, longer life food.

FORTIFICATIONA number of foods, including weaningfoods, are fortified with other ingredients,notably vitamins and minerals, to increasetheir nutritional value. Common examplesare the fortification of salt with iodine inorder to control the outbreak of iodinedeficiency diseases.

Weaning foods can easily be fortifiedby the addition of a little oil to a tradi-tional starchy porridge. This increases theenergy value, (10g of oil contains as manycalories as 25g of starch) and alsoimproves the flavour and palatability of abland food. If the oil used is red palm oil,there are double benefits because this oilis high in beta-carotene which breaksdown to vitamin A in the body (importantfor correct eyesight development).

Green leaves are a rich source of beta-carotene and also contain some iron. InSri Lanka, a nutritious weaning foodcalled Kola Kanda is made by adding leafjuice to cooked rice and coconut, the sta-ple food of Sri Lankans. The juice isobtained by grinding leaves in a pestleand mortar. A more concentrated form ofthis supplement is obtained by boilingand curdling the extracted juice to form aprotein and beta-carotene rich curd. Anorganisation Find Your Feet has supportedprojects in several countries where leafconcentrate was used to fortify local foods

and to improve the nutritional status ofchildren. It is not, however, essential toextract the juice from leaves or to form acurd to enrich the starchy staple. Greenleaves themselves are a nutritious supple-ment and mothers should be encouragedto include them in a weaning diet. Asmentioned previously, dried, groundleaves can be used to fortify dried mix-tures of cereals, pulses and oilseeds.

The examples described show that theproduction of nutritious weaning foods isa process which can be carried out at thesmall scale and at village level, by groupsof women or individuals. It is based onlocally available foods and traditional pro-duction processes and does not requiresophisticated equipment. However,extreme care should be taken over thehygiene, quality control and safe handlingof both the raw materials and finishedproducts. During the preparation of wean-ing foods, hygiene is of utmost impor-tance as contaminated weaning foodsaccount for a substantial proportion ofdiarrhoeal disease and mortality amonginfants and children. The importance offood hygiene and safety in the prepara-tion of foods and the prevention of diar-rhoea, is often overlooked. Only simplemeasures are required as most contamina-tion is due to factors such as pollutedwater, flies, pests, unclean pots and uten-sils, dirty hands and an unclean environ-ment caused by inadequate sanitation.

There are several other considerationswhich must be taken into account inorder to establish a successful small busi-ness producing weaning foods. Althoughit makes common sense economically touse locally available foods in the prepara-tion of weaning foods, there may bereluctance to buy the weaning foods for anumber of reasons; the mother or carer isunaware of the dietary requirements ofthe infant; the supplementary food is tooexpensive and raw ingredients are notreadily available; preparation of the foodscan be time consuming and home-pre-pared foods may have a low status againstthe readily available commercial brands ofweaning food. One of the most essentialrequirements is to increase the awarenessof the mothers or carers to the importanceof weaning foods in the infants diet. Thisrole is carried out by nutrition extensionworkers and health workers. These people are also essential for helping tomarket the product against larger

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Extreme careshould be taken

over thehygiene, qualitycontrol and safe

handling ofboth the raw

materials andfinished

products.

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Children in Sri Lanka

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The actualingredients

vary betweenseasons

according toavailability andprice, but there

is always onecereal, one

legume and oneoilseed.

High energy,high proteinbiscuits have

the potential tomake ideal

weaning foods.

manufacturers who have an establishedreputation for quality and presentation.

Despite the many problems and con-straints, it is possible to make a ready-made weaning food at the small scale.

In Ghana, Gratimix, a high proteinweaning food made from groundnuts,maize and beans has been developed forsmall-scale production. The only equip-ment required is a corn mill, mixingbowls, a heat sealing machine, labels andpolythene sachets. The three main ingre-dients are all cleaned separately, takingspecial care to avoid any groundnutswhich may be contaminated by aflatoxin.After cleaning, they are roasted in anopen pan to decrease the moisture con-tent, (thereby prolonging shelf life),improve the digestibility of the nutrientsand to de-activate enzymes and anti-nutri-tional factors. The roasted ingredients arecooled and the groundnuts are dehulledafter which they are mixed in the follow-ing proportions; maize 70%, cowpea 15%and groundnut 15%, and milled using alocally made corn mill to produce a fineflour. The flour is packed into doublethickness polythene sachets and heatsealed. The product has a shelf life ofthree months.

In Hyderabad, India, womens groups inrural areas produce an instant weaningfood called the Hyderabad mix. This mix-ture contains at least one cereal and onelegume to provide a balance of aminoacids. It also contains groundnuts andlocal sugar for additional energy. Theactual ingredients vary between seasonsaccording to availability and price, butthere is always one cereal, one legumeand one oilseed. The ingredients arecleaned, dry roasted over a fire and thenground by hand on a stone. The flours aremixed together and packaged into plasticbags which are sealed over a candle. Theweaning mixture can either be eaten asplain powder (by both adults and chil-dren), made into a porridge using milk orwater, cooked as chappatis or made intosweet balls with jaggery (raw sugar). Thisweaning mixture is successful because ituses locally available ingredients, is flexi-ble enough to change with variable avail-ability of raw materials and uses a goodbalance of cereal, legume and oilseed.

High energy, high protein biscuits havethe potential to make an ideal weaningfood. Children love to eat biscuits, theyare very easy to eat and do not require

the assistance of the mother or carer andpreparation time and costs are removed.The main constraint to their use may beincreased cost above ordinary mass pro-duced biscuits which can be found inmost shops.

Biscuits can be made from any types oflocally available cereals, pulses andoilseeds. It is possible for production tobe on the small-scale, using a clay breadoven or an oil drum oven. The followingrecipe makes a nutritious, high energy,high protein biscuit.

1. Choose a legume such as beans, an oilseed such as groundnut or sesame anda cereal such as maize or millet. Getsome wheat flour.

2. Clean all the ingredients and throwaway any groundnuts which are bad.

3. Roast the groundnuts or sesame, takingcare not to burn them. Pound and grindthem into a fine flour or paste. Soak thebeans and remove the skins. Dry themand grind into a fine flour.

4. Roast and grind the cereal.5. Mix one part each of the groundnut or

sesame paste, the bean flour, the cerealflour and the wheat flour. Add a halfpart of sugar and 1 teaspoon of bakingpowder for every 10 big spoonfuls ofmixture.

6. Add a half part of oil to the mixture toincrease the energy value. Rub it inthoroughly until you have a dryishmixture.

7. Add clean water, one spoon at a time,until the mixture is pliable but notsticky. Mix well for 5 minutes.

8. Roll out the dough and cut intobiscuits. Place them on a greased trayand bake in a hot oven for about 15minutes.

9. When cooled, pack them into airtightcontainers.

This article was produced from contributionsfrom the following; F W Korthals Altes and P

Dijkhuizen (AT Source, 19(2)); Y Motarjemi, F Kaferstein, G Moy and F Quevedo (Bull World

Health Org, 71(1)); G Gordon (AT Journal,14(2)); A Maddison and G Davys (AT Journal

14(2)); D Morley (Professor of Tropical ChildHealth, London University); N D Vietmeyer

(Vetiver Network); S Anokye-Mensah (Ghana Regional Appropriate Technology

Industrial Service (GRATIS); K Krishna Kumari (Assistant Professor, Foods

and Nutrition, PR and Research Centre,Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, India).

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Welcome to the Latin America Pages

Candy Production

As with the Asia Pages, these pages are for our readers in Latin America to shareexperiences and ideas which have been beneficial to themselves and which they want toshare with a wider audience. I look forward to hearing from you all – this is your blankspace upon which you can write. Food Chain has already published material fromLatin America, but we want to establish a much greater involvement with you, thereaders, in this region. It may be that it is easier for you to write in Spanish and directto me here in Lima. I look forward to receiving your articles and letters. Please sendthem to me – Daniel Rodriguez at IT Peru, Casilla Postal 18-0620, Lima 18, Peru.Email: [email protected]

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a problem. The production of high boiledsweets with cooking temperatures of upto 160°C is quite a difficult process involv-ing great art and requiring a lot of experi-ence. In this article the authors describetheir experiences working with a candymaker in Peru.

As part of IT-Peru’s food processingtraining programme, technical assistancefor small-scale entrepreneurs is providedin their own production unit, to comple-ment training courses. The programme hasvisited approximately 100 small enterprisesproducing liquors, cookies, soybean sauce,vanilla extract and a wide range of confec-tionery products. During these visits webegan to realise that the particular prod-ucts made, very much depend on the par-ticular part of Peru from which the families

A VERY SIMPLE TECHNOLOGY FORSMALL ENTERPRISESConfectionery products are widely pro-duced by small enterprises, and over theyears Food Chain has published short arti-cles on traditional sweets from manycountries. However, previously articleshave described what are known as ‘lowboiled products’ such as toffees, fudgesand marshmallows. This article describesthe manufacture of ‘high boiled’ sweets(often referred to as candies), wheremuch higher temperatures are used.

Low boiled sweets, in which the sugarmass is heated to about 120°C are com-paratively easy to make. The sugar massremains soft and pliable for some timeand can be moulded by hand or pouredinto moulds. Sugar crystallization is rarely

Boiling the syrupWooden vat containing water with stainless steel l

iner


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ICAoriginated. Those producing fried foods forexample, tend to have originated from Cuzco inthe mountains, while bakers come from anotherhighland area around the town of Huancayo. Inother cases products relate to particular familygroups that have knowledge and skills passeddown from generation to generation. This articledescribes the case of a family in Lima with a tra-dition of candy production.

About 15 years ago a Spanish citizen came toPeru, bringing with him all the necessary equip-ment to establish a small candy factory. He setup business and began training his workers.One of these was Wilder Onocuica, who, afterthe Spanish owner’s death, became the factorymanager inheriting all the equipment. Heneeded workers quickly, so he trained sixnephews. This has now resulted in the establish-ment of six small candy factories, each havingspecific products based on the creative abilityand dynamics of the owner.

We are currently providing technical assistanceto Wilder Onocuica and are now consideringextending this to the six nephews who we havealready visited. When Wilder first started thebusiness, he felt rather unsure and so he hired askilled worker from a big factory in Lima, whoprovided valuable assistance in a very creativeway. For example, the standard metal mouldsavailable in Lima are expensive, costing US$400–500. Together they designed woodenmoulds which cost only US$60 and had ten timesthe capacity of the metal ones. The assistanceprovided by Intermediate Technology hasincluded simple quality control methods, infor-mation on how to obtain sanitary/hygiene certifi-cates, market information, uses of alternative rawmaterials and in general how to formalize a smallbusiness.

Nextpage

Pouring the liquid candy mixture into the tray

Adding colour to the candy

Mixing

Metal hook for candy pulling

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Production takes place in a room 5m by 6mwhich contains the following extremely simple,low-cost equipment:

● One kerosene stove.● One wooden table covered with formica (2.40

× 0.80m)● A cooling tank (a rectangular stainless tank

150 × 80cm placed in a wooden vat full of coldwater)

● Two aluminium pots of 15-litre capacity.● An iron pot, with a coarse mesh and internal

charcoal heater (used to keep the candy warmand soft)

● One metal hook for candy pulling.● Aluminium and brass moulds of different

shapes.● Wooden moulds.● A simple set of scales.

The main ingredients used are sugar, cream oftartar, flavours and colours, citric acid and glu-cose

The most important ingredient is a lot ofcreative ability and the desire to work.

THE TYPICAL PRODUCTION PROCESSIn a typical batch of candy, 12 kg of sugar ismixed with 4 litres of water and heated on thestove.

After 5 minutes 5g of cream of tartar is added,which causes some inversion of the sugar, (achemical change in which cane sugar breaksdown into smaller sugars – glucose and fruc-tose) and so reduces the risk of crystals formingin the final product. When the syrup is reallyhot, the sides of the cooking pot are very care-fully wiped clean of any spatters of syrup with apiece of clean, damp cloth. If this is not donereally carefully there are sure to be sugar crystal-lization problems. The syrup temperature mustreach 162°C. It is then poured into a cooling traywhich has previously been greased with butter.At this stage colour can be added.

When the mass of candy is cool enough to

Pulling the candy to increase its volume by

incorporating air

Pulling the candy

Pulling the candy

The pulled candy is put on a metal grille with a charcoal

heater below to stop it cooling down. At this stage

coloured portions are added to the large piece of candy.


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ICAhandle, but is still very hot, it has to be repeat-edly stretched. This is done by throwing it overa hook, pulling down and extending it as shownin the photographs. It is heavy, hot work. As thecandy is removed from the hook after each pullit is placed in the special container (essentially abucket with a heater inside and a perforatedplate) in order to keep the candy hot and pli-able. Finally the candy is rolled out, rather like abread dough, and placed in moulds as shown inthe photographs.

At present, Wilmer produces about 10 differ-ent kinds of candies which are packed in bagsof 1⁄4, 1⁄2 or 1 kg according to the market require-ments. Some of these are shown.

Is it profitable? This small company usesabout 150kg of sugar a day and in our viewappears to be profitable. Its basic costs, in US$are:

Sugar 150kg at 58c/kg 87.00Other ingredients 8.70Labour 25.50Total production cost 121.20Sales value at 172.50Profit * 51.30

*Note: this profit calculation does not takeaccount of depreciation, insurance etc.

In this short article we wish to highlight thatfood processing enterprises, using very simpletechnologies, are an important source ofemployment for people of low income in coun-tries like Peru. Mr. Onocuica’s enterprise, forexample, provides permanent employmentdirectly to six workers and to another five indi-rectly, through marketing. All of this with a verylow capital investment.

This article was written by Ing. Walter Rios and Roaldo Hilario, Ave Jorge Chavez 275, Miraflores,

Lima 18 Peru. Tel: (511) 4447055 Fax: (511) 4466621Email: [email protected]

All photographs by Alberta Higa

Different colours of candy put together ready for

shaping

Cutting into portions ready to shape the sweets

Strips of rolled candy placed on mouldready for cutting

Candy cut into shapes

Putting on sticks


Coconut processing in the MekongDeltaIn Ben Tre in the heart of the MekongDelta, Vietnam, coconuts are cultivatedon thousands of small householdplantations covering 312,000 acres.Coconut production has yielded the highestincome for the farming families of BenTre, each of whom typically owns less thanone acre of land. In addition to theiragricultural value, coconut trees providea natural windbreak, so reducingdamaging effects of typhoons. Along muchof the coastline in the Mekong Delta, theyalso prevent erosion and sea encroachmentof the land on which so many peopledepend for their livelihood.

Although Vietnam has the fifth largestnumber of coconut trees in the world, thepotential of the crop to farmers, and tothe country as a whole through exports, isdeclining. Vietnam’s coconut industry suf-fered when the socialist block markets, onwhich it relied for the sale of coconut oil,collapsed. Vietnam was left to competeusing outdated technologies in a world-wide, free-market environment, for whichit was neither experienced nor equipped.This has resulted in a serious loss ofincome for the country, with the thou-sands of farmers who rely on the sale ofcoconuts as their primary source ofincome, being particularly hard hit. The

province of Ben Tre has experienced asevere economic decline due to the lossof income and jobs dependent on thecoconut industry.

While Vietnam has some successfulsmall businesses that process coconuts forfibre and charcoal, these facilities con-sume only a limited number of coconuts.The bulk of Vietnam’s coconut tradetoday is by the low-value export of whole,unprocessed coconuts to China. Due to alack of in-country processing, Vietnameven imports a number of processedcoconut products from abroad.

No one feels the effect of the decliningmarkets more than the small farmers ofBen Tre and the fall in market demand fortheir produce has reduced their alreadymeagre income. Over the last six years, 13per cent of the coconut trees in Ben TreProvince have been cut down as farmersseek alternative higher income crops.

DEVELOPING A VIETNAMESECOCONUT PROCESSING ENTERPRISEThe Swedish Red Cross developed aninterest in coconut cultivation as a meansof providing a natural windbreak againsttyphoons which annually hit Vietnam’scoastline. Between 1988 and 1991, as partof their disaster relief effort, the SwedishRed Cross financed the planting of

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Due to a lack ofin-country

processing,Vietnam even

imports anumber ofprocessed

coconutproducts from

abroad.

Removing the hard shellof the coconuts

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300,000 coconut trees along selected areasof the Vietnamese coastline. As a followup to the planting programme, they askedInternational Development Enterprises(IDE), a small, private, non-profit makingorganization specializing in the develop-ment of market driven, small-scale tech-nologies, to undertake a project todevelop a sustainable coconut processingindustry.

The aim of the project was tostrengthen and expand the market forcoconuts, thus making coconut cultivationa greater and more stable income generat-ing activity for farmers. In January 1994,after extensive market research and amanufacturing feasibility study, IDE chosedesiccated coconut (dried, finely shred-ded, white coconut meat), as the mostpromising product.

Desiccated coconut is used in the man-ufacture of bakery goods and confec-tionery and sells for almost twice the priceof unprocessed nuts. It is the second mostimportant product, after oil, for thecoconut industries of Sri Lanka and thePhilippines. However, no manufacturersof this high value product existed in Viet-nam.

Over the course of two and half years,IDE developed a production unit to man-ufacture desiccated coconut. As well astechnology development, eighty workershad to be trained in all aspects of desic-cated coconut production. Technicaldevelopment work focused on reducingthe size of the production system andmachinery used in Sri Lanka. At the sametime, IDE sought markets in Vietnam tosustain a desiccated coconut company.

After proving the technical and financialviability of producing and marketing des-iccated coconut at an experimental facil-ity, IDE established a stand alone, prof-itable enterprise for its manufacture andsale. The Dat Lanh Company in Ben TreProvince is equipped with US$30,000 ofmachinery that was designed by IDE andmanufactured in Vietnam. IDE provided afurther US$10,000 of start-up capital, andthe newly formed company’s managementsecured bank loans totalling US$30,000 torenovate an existing site and upgrade theelectrical and water facilities.

IDE trained a seven-member board ofdirectors to manage the company andprovide leadership. The board comprisesthe manager of the company, prominentmembers of the provincial government, an

elected worker from the factory and arepresentative of the Ben Tre Red Cross.

FROM FIELD TO CUSTOMERFarmers gather coconuts from the treeswhen they are ripe and hardened. Theyare then transported by boat along theMekong River to the factory for process-ing. At the facility the hard shell isremoved with hatchets, leaving thecoconut meat unbroken. The brokenshells are sold to a charcoal enterprise.The brown testa, which coats the whitecoconut meat, is shaved off and sold forpressing to yield a low-grade coconutoil.

Good hygiene is particularly importantin desiccated coconut production. Thefinal product is generally used withoutany further heat processing, for examplesprinkled on cakes and biscuits. Thismeans that any micro-organisms presentcan pass directly into the food chain.Food poisoning organisms such as col-iforms and salmonella have proved a seri-ous problem and some countries have losttheir export markets due to their pres-ence. IDE thus placed great emphasis onfactory and worker hygiene. All factoryoperatives receive training from the Viet-nam Department of Preventative HealthCare. This organization also carries outbacteriological tests of the product eachday. Hygiene measures in place includechlorinated hand washers, foot baths(which have to be walked through before

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Good hygiene isparticularly

important indesiccated

coconutproduction. Thefinal product isgenerally used

without anyfurther heat

processing. Thismeans that any

micro-organisms

present canpass directly

into the foodchain.

Coconut tree

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entering the factory), and stringentplanned cleaning shifts at the end of eachweek.

All the kernels first pass through aseries of chlorinated and fresh water washtanks to reduce contamination levels.They are then heat treated in a blancherwhich destroys any remaining heat sensi-tive micro-organisms such as salmonella.The blancher is a small version of the typeused in Sri Lanka. It consists of a tank 2mby 1m fitted with a rotating stainless steelauger along its length. The auger speed isset so that the kernels are blanched for aminimum of 90 seconds. The water tem-perature is maintained above 95°C.Should the temperature fall below this theauger stops automatically until the tem-perature rises. The 95°C thermostat ischecked weekly before blanching. Theblancher feeds the coconut kernels into ahigh sterility area – the drying room. Herethe kernels are ground into small piecesusing an imported Malaysian mill with acapacity of 3 tons/day (double the dryingcapacity of the factory). Initially a locallydesigned and built mill was used but thisproved unsatisfactory. The particle sizeproduced was uneven and it was very dif-ficult to clean.

The milled coconut is loaded ontowooden frame trays (1m by 1m) withmesh bases, which are passed throughdriers – again based on those used in SriLanka. Heat for the drier is supplied by acoal-fired steam boiler. Essentially it is asemi-continuous counter-current drier, i.e.the hottest and driest air first passesthrough the bottom tray of almost drymaterial about to leave the drier, then

passes through subsequenttrays and finally passingthrough the top tray of verywet material that has just beenpushed into the drier. The drierholds five trays and it takes 40minutes for a tray to passthough giving a final productwith a moisture content below2 per cent. Air enters the drierat 100°C.Once dried, the desiccatedcoconut is cooled, inspected,and if needed, ground to afineness to meet individualspecifications. It is then packedinto woven sacks with heatsealed polythene liners. Sam-ples of the product are taken

for bacteriological testing. After clearance,the desiccated coconut is transported bytruck throughout Vietnam, to confec-tionery factories that produce a number ofdifferent products for sale both within thecountry and for export.

FIRST YEAR RESULTSThe factory employs 80 workers and usesover 160,000 coconuts per month, putting$190,000 per year into the hands of the1,000–1,500 coconut-farming families. Itsells over US$500,000 of desiccatedcoconut annually to Vietnamese and for-eign joint venture confectionery manufac-turers who have switched from usingimported desiccated coconut. The newcompany exported its first container ofdesiccated coconut to Taiwan in early1997.

Since its establishment in mid 1996, thedesiccated coconut company hasexpanded its monthly sales to 30 tons andanticipates after tax profits in excess ofUS$80,000 in its first year. The companyretains 50 per cent of the profits forexpansion, 30 per cent is distributed toworkers and management, and 20 percent is donated to support the humanitar-ian activities of the Ben Tre Red Cross andthe Ben Tre Child Care Committee.

The Red Cross uses the income tofinance its relief and infrastructure pro-grammes in the villages of Ben Tre.Among other things, these programmesprovide food and health care for victimsof floods and typhoons which strike theprovince almost every year. The ChildCare Committee uses its funds to provideeducational and vocational training facili-

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The companyretains 50 per

cent of theprofits for

expansion, 30per cent is

distributed toworkers and

management,and 20 per cent

is donated tosupport the

humanitarianactivities of the

Ben Tre RedCross and theBen Tre Child

CareCommittee.

Inside the factory

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ties for handicapped, orphaned and streetchildren in Ben Tre Province.

SIGNIFICANCEBesides being a successful developmentproject, which was initiated by an interna-tional NGO and then turned over to alocal entity as a self-sustaining enterprise,there are other lessons that may belearned from this project.

1. It added 80 jobs to the local ruraleconomy

2. Economic benefits from the addedvalue derived from processing stayed inVietnam, rather than accruing to countriesto which coconuts were being exported.

3. Job creation in poor rural areas andthe economic benefits from the multipliereffects of these jobs, reduced pressure forrural to urban migration.

4. The coconut processing factory wastotally handed over to become a locallyowned enterprise within the three-yearterm of the project.

5. Total investment in the plant andequipment was US$40,000 which is cur-rently producing net annual profits ofUS$50,000 per year. Both output and prof-its are increasing rapidly. (Indeed sincethis paper was prepared we have heardthat drying capacity has been doubled.)

Recently, two new independent desic-cated coconut factories have opened. Thismeans that raw coconut sales have risento 7.5 million coconuts per year and out-put of desiccated coconut to 135tons/month. Whilst IDE are very pleasedto see this increase, there is concern that

the new factories may export some conta-minated product which could thendestroy the whole Vietnamese export mar-ket. IDE is thus currently seeking financeto send the directors of the new factoriesand government officials to Sri Lanka inorder to study government regulationsand standards of production, (especiallysanitation), storage and export require-ments for desiccated coconut. It wouldalso be an opportunity for them to meetpotential machinery/equipment suppliers.It is hoped that this trip would result inthe development of a Government Codeof Practice.

The desiccated coconut processingfactory can be seen as a model for iden-tifying niches in the market place forprofitable small-scale, value-added pro-cessing of agricultural products in poorrural areas. When successful, such pro-jects increase jobs and available incometo the rural poor, and shift economicbenefits of processing from large central-ized processing plants in cities to ruralareas.

This article was sent in by Dan Salter andNguyen Van Quang. Dan Salter is currently theVietnam Country Director for IDE. He started

the coconut project in January of 1994 andturned it over to the Dat Lanh Company in

late1996. Nguyen Van Quang was the SeniorProject Officer on the coconut project and is

currently the Central Vietnam RegionalDirector for IDE. For further information they

can be contacted at IDE: 52 Mai Dich, Tu Liem,Hanoi, Vietnam. Email: [email protected]

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Whensuccessful, such

projectsincrease jobsand availableincome to the

rural poor, andshift economic

benefits ofprocessing from

largecentralizedprocessing

factories incities to rural

areas.

Product packed andready for shipment

Noodles bring Japan and Nepaltogether

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Thank you for writing to us. We try our best to allocate all of you a place, in theAsia pages. Please don’t worry if your articles have not yet been published. Dowrite to us with interesting stories in the field of food processing – the machinerydeveloped locally, problems that you came across etc. Please give as much detail asyou can so that others can then use the information. Send us newsletters of yourorganizations to share information about your work with a wider audience.

It is with regret we say goodbye to Chintha Munasinghe from our Sri Lanka officewho has been the contact for you since the Asia Pages began, but please con-tinue to write to us.

The work of co-ordinating your material for publication is to be continued byAlamgeer Haque in our office in Bangladesh. Just drop a line as usual to:Alamgeer Haque, IT Bangladesh, GPO Box 3881, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh. Email: [email protected]

Dear Friends…

NUTRITIOUS STRAIGHTNOODLES: SATUKO-RAJANIRECIPE

Ingredients:

Wheat Flour 700g–800gOther flour 300g–200gWater 400mlSalt 40g

PROCESS:1. Mix wheat flour with other flour

(legume, maize, barley etc.).

2. Dissolve salt in the water.

3. Mix the flour mixture with water.

4. Knead it well and leave thedough for 1 hour.

5. Knead the dough well again.

6. Flatten the dough on a table withhands or a rolling pin.

7. Slice the dough and make a thinsheet using a pasta machine.

8. Cut the noodles.

9. Leave hanging for sometimes ona rack and then steam them.

10. Dry them under the sun.

11. Pack and store.

I met Satuko from Japan, who cameto work with me under the JOVCprogramme. We had a lot of timetogether as trainers and had thechance to share our expertise andindigenous knowledge during thattime.

She left for Japan leaving me witha lot of sweet memories. I rememberhow we tried adapting Japanese foodto suit the Nepalese.

Noodles was one of the areas weselected. Satuko knew how to makenoodles at home – normal wheatflour noodles, steamed noodles andinstant noodles – but we wanted tomake it more nutritious by trying outdifferent kinds of flour such aslegumes, maize and barley.

This is one recipe we came upwith:

Rajani ShreshtaAssistant Food Researcher

Central Food Research LaboratoryBabar Mahal, Katmandu

Nepal

Mr Chandradasa and his wife live inrural southern Sri Lanka and in 1994both attended food processing trainingcourses which resulted in them starting asmall confectionery business manufactur-ing a range of jujubes and toffees. He hasnow been able to give up his job as a co-operative manager to be able to devote histime to marketing the goods they produce.

They received support from the MahaweliEntrepreneur Development Organisation(MEDO) which not only funded theirattendance on training courses but alsoprovided assistance in supplying the nec-essary equipment, and working capital inorder to begin production. In order toreceive MEDO support the Chandradasa’shad to prepare a small business plan toshow that their venture would be prof-itable. This involved a simple market sur-vey in local shops.

The equipment used to produce theconfectionery is simple and consists of agas ring, a stainless steel pan, scales, asugar thermometer, moulds, a heat sealerand small items such as jugs and spoons.

They make two batches of jujubes a

week (as shown in the flow chart over-leaf), each batch taking about five hoursto produce from start to finish. Raw mate-

rial costs are Rs500/batch andthe selling price is Rs700.They also make 750 pieces ofRulang toffee a week, 750packets of milk toffee, and300 packets of a local frieddough sweet called Batto.All ingredients and packagingare locally available, but theyare unhappy with the poorquality of the labels as thisaffects the marketing of theirproducts.They are now experimentingwith baking bread in order toexpand the business. MrChandradasa has attended abakery training course, againcourtesy of MEDO and hehas built a small wood-fired,6 loaf oven They currentlymake two batches a day andhope to expand if there issufficient demand.Like all businesses, they haveproblems, mainly associated

The sweet smell of success

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Pouring the mixtureinto the moulds

Boiling the Jujubemixture

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atts

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with the system of sale. The shopkeepersonly pay the Chandradasa’s when thegoods are sold (a sale or return basis).Also, the Chandradasa’s have no controlof handling, storage and display of theirgoods, which means that sometimesgoods are returned spoiled, due to incor-rect storage and display. The shopkeepershave the upper hand and the entrepre-neurs have no alternative but to agree tothe terms. To do their own marketing

would mean that they have less time toprepare the confectionery.

On the brighter side, they have nowincreased turnover to such an extent thatnot only has Mr Chandradasa left his reg-ular job, but they have now saved enoughmoney to begin construction of a pur-pose-built building for confectionery pro-duction. It is clear that training has beenthe key to making much more of theirlives.

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JUJUBESIngredientsSugar 250gGelatine 25gLiquid glucose 75gCitric acid 2gEssence 5 drops

Colouring 5 dropsWater: 100ml (1⁄2 cup)

– to dissolve gelatine100ml (1⁄2 cup)– to boil sugar

Disolving

Mixing

Boiling to 120°C (265°F)

Removing from the fire

Mixing

Mixing

Pouring into oiled mould

Leaving until set

Cutting into pieces, wrapping/coating with sugar

Removing excess sugar

Packing

Flavours

Gelatine Warm water Sugar Water

Boiling

Colouring

Citric Acid

Liquid Glucose


INGREDIENTS

Wheat flour 250gSugar 250gYeast 2gWater 120gSalt 5gCooking oil (for frying)

METHODMix and knead wheat flour, salt, yeast and 5g of sugar with sufficient water to make afirm dough. Let the dough ferment for about 40 minutes. Then mix the dough well toremove air. Make small balls and roll them to get sickle shaped battos.

Deep fry the ‘raw’ battos until they become golden brown. Dip them in hot sugarsolution (boiling at 108°C) and remove as soon as it gets sticky.

HOW TO MAKE SUGAR SOLUTIONThis should be prepared as soon as all the battos are fried. To make the sugar solution,dissolve the remaining sugar into the remaining water. Keep it on the flame and let itboil until the temperature of the solution is 108°C. At this point the sugar solution usu-ally becomes thick and sticky. The general practice to identify this stage is by droppinga small amount of it into a bowl of water. If the drop remains as it is without dissolv-ing in water, then that is the time to add battos.

HOW TO MAKE BATTOS


Recipes and flowcharts kindly

sent by Mr Chopa

Edirisinghe, Unit Manager,

ICTRL,Yodhagama,Embilipitiya,

Sri Lanka.

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MILK TOFFEE

Packing

Milk (coconut or milk powder) water

Boiling

Sugar

Boiling till the settling pointNuts

Cardamom Vanilla Colouring

Mixing

Spreading over a wooden tray lined with oil paper

Cutting into pieces

IngredientsSugar 500gCoconut 1 orCoconut milk 100ml (1 cup) orMilk powder 100g

dissolved inWater 200ml

Peanut/cashew 25gCardamom 5 seedsVanilla as requiredColouring as required

Documents

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