1. Product Description: Paper egg trays are industrial products used for holding eggs in poultry farms and in places where eggs are sold or stored. Egg trays made from waste paper are usually cheap and light which make them economical to be used by poultry farmers.
2. Market Potential: Poultry rising is one main income generating activity in the mixed farming system of the Amhara rural economy. It is very common in the Ahmara region to see women carrying eggs to be sold in the small urban centers located in every part of the region. But since there are no convenient household goods for holding eggs safely, eggs are broken which being taken to market places. This causes loss of income for many rural families. Poultry rising is also practiced in the urban centers of the regions and lack of a convenient egg holder is also a problem in the urban areas. Poultry farming for generating income will expand in the region in the coming years. Increasing quantities of eggs will be produced and supplied to the market. The need for a convenient product that will be used to hold eggs will increase. For facilitating the development of the poultry industry in the region, there is a need to establish a small scale egg trays producing plant in the region.
Since the plant is assumed to market its out put outside the region, future demand for egg trays is projected at national level using an estimated annual rate of increase in the demand for eggs. The projected growth in GDP, being about 7% per year according to the government’s five year plan, it is generally believed that GDP growth implies increase in the income levels of the population. Furthermore, middle and high income groups are usually the most likely to benefit from growth in an economy. Therefore, it can be justified that the real income of people in the middle and high income groups would increase annually by at least 7%.
Based on the above considerations, the projected demand for egg trays will be as shown in Table 1
Table 1
PROJECTED DEMAND FOR EGG TRAYS
(MILLION PCS.)
3. Sources of Raw Materials: Waste paper, other fibrous materials are the main raw materials and caustic soda these can be obtained from domestic sources.
4. Process and Technology: The waste paper is beaten with a stick and any dust and other undesired materials are removed. Then the waste paper is cut in to pieces using a cutting machine which can be operated either manually or electrically. The cut pieces are transferred to a beater and water is added and then the beater is set in motion. After storing the pulp for some time, Caustic soda is added (if needed). Now the pulp is taken to a dilution tank with the help of a pump. Dilution takes places with the addition of more water; next the mounding operation takes place. The moulds are made of wood. A wire gauge mould is fixed at the bottom of the wooden vats. When the pulp solution is stirred well, the bottom of the mould is removed. The water in the solution passes the mesh and comes out and the fibrous material deposit on the mesh evenly and takes-up the shape of an egg tray. The tray is then dried along with the wire mesh. The wire mesh is removed from the tray and after drying the trays are cut in to desired sizes and marketed.
5. Estimated Investment: For a plant that will produce 2,500,000 pieces of paper egg trays, the investment cost will be :
Buildings/ shade 300m2 at Birr 2000/m2 = 600,000
Machinery = 400,000
Working capital = 150,000
1,150,000
6. Benefits: Facilitates the development of poultry farms, increases the income of poultry farmers, and improves the food supply of the region.
7. Location: Bahir Dare, Dessie, Gonder, etc