The current Tanzanian potato product processing market is dominated by retailers, hotels, restaurants, and home-made. There is no large potato processing plant in Tanzania due to the lack of refrigeration facilities, specialized fries machines, and financial support. Therefore, the potato processing industry in Tanzania has great potential.
Status of potato production in Tanzania
The potato is an important food and cash crop in Tanzania and other Eastern African countries. Moreover, its potato output is growing faster than other major root crops and cereals. Tanzania not only produces potatoes for domestic use, but it also exports them.
Every year, Kenya imports large quantities of fresh potatoes from Tanzania. Tanzania is one of the largest potato producers in East Africa, but prices fluctuate greatly due to insufficient storage and underdeveloped processing industries. With Tanzania’s abundant supply of raw materials, processed potatoes have great potential in the country.
Market potential of Tanzanian french fries processing
Tanzania’s potato processing product supply channels are mainly divided into retail stores and import channels. Its retail outlets mainly cover hotels, bars, and restaurants. Retail stores process and prepare ready-to-eat potato chips and fries on their own, and sell them directly to consumers.
Tanzania’s second-largest source of processed potato products is through imports. Because Tanzania’s five-star hotels and some high-income people need to meet international standards and high-quality fries, importing frozen fries is the only option, although imported fries are more expensive than local fries.
This shows that the development of large-scale frozen fries processing and potato chip processing has great market potential in Tanzania.
What equipment is needed to start a fries and chips plant in Tanzania?
Processing of potato products should be equipped with the following machines:
Washing and peeling machine
Slicer machine
French fries/chips blanching machine
French fries/chips dewatering machine
Fryer machine
French fries/chips deoiling machine
French fries/chips seasoning machine
Nitrogen filled fries/chips packaging machine
