1. Product Description: Tooth paste is a smooth, soft, viscous and usually white dentifrices used for cleaning and preserving the teeth. The soap material of the paste cleans the teeth while the compounds like fluorine and calcium protect the teeth from decay and cavitations. Tooth paste is delivered in aluminum foil tubes whose standard sizes are 50ml. and 75ml.
The rationale or the need of using tooth paste is the same with the need of using toothbrushes; and this is explained in the project idea section of tooth brushes.
Market Potential: There are about 19.2 million people in the Amhara Region. Of these, close to two million live in urban centers. Currently probably not more than 25 percent of the people in urban center use tooth paste regularly. The rest of the population in the Region do not use tooth paste. But, tooth paste is essential for protecting the teeth from decay and infection. Ideally all the 19.2 million people should use tooth paste. Hence, the potential demand for tooth paste in the Region is about 115.2 million tubes. This is with the assumption that one person consumes 6 tubes of tooth paste per year. If we assume that about 50 percent of the population will use tooth paste, the demand for the product will be about 58 million tubes. This is much more than the production capacity of five or more tooth paste making plants.
Source of Raw material: The basic raw materials for the manufacture of tooth paste are calcium carbonate, water and glycerin. There are possibilities of obtaining these basic raw materials from domestic sources.
Process and Technology: Basic ingredients are mixed in a vessel. The raw materials are homogenized in the vessel. The mixture is then led to the processing plant where glycerin, perfume, preserving agent and mustering agent are mixed with powder material. Then the mixture is pumped to a storage tank and cooled. Finally, the paste is pumped to the tube filler where the product is filled to standard tubes and then sealed. Main machinery and equipment needed include premix vessel with propeller, powder vessel. Processing plant, floor scale, table scale, storage tank, discharge pump, pumps and tube filler machine.
Estimated Investment: For a plant which will produce 8 million tubes of tooth paste per year, the estimated investment will be
Building 600m2 at Br 2000/m2 = Birr 1,200,000
Machinery …………………… = Birr 5,700,000
Working capital …………… = Birr 600,000
Total = Birr 7,500,000
5. Benefits: Saves foreign exchange, generates financial resources to the region, contributes to the improvement of dental health of the population, and introduces new skills and technology.
6. Location: Debre Birhan, or any other major urban center of the Region.