How to Start a Papad Business in India? [Step-by-step Guide]

The food industry is considered to be one of the most profitable areas when it comes to business. Talking about the tasty, appetising food item papad, starting a business in this area would require low investment and initial capital. There are many aspects of this papad-making business that need to be studied in detail before starting this business.

Papad enriches the taste of the food irrespective of any meal. This FMCG item is a crispy, round-shaped, thin disc-like edible item usually made from different types of flour. Initially, it was made from black gram flour and is considered to be the standard one. Papad business is deemed to be a profitable business because it is consumed by everyone. It carries nutritious value, and the market for papad is expanding. This article will focus on all the important factors associated with the papad business, such as raw materials, papad making machines, costing, etc. Let us have a look at the same.

Various aspects related to Papad business:

Starting a papad business may not be as easy as it seems. Selecting the right papad maker and knowing every papad ingredient, etc., is considered to be a big task. So, let us understand all these aspects in detail about papad business.

1. Papad making business potential in India

Papad making may turn out to be profitable if we understand the demand and undertake steps in the right direction for this business. Many local brands are in the papad-making business. Before starting one, you need to decide the scale of your papad-making business. The scale can either be small, medium, or large-scale business, which depends on the manpower, production, and investment capacity.

The quality should be maintained, and it can be either fried, roasted, microwaved, or toasted, depending upon the requirements. The demand has increased, and it is also being exported all across the world. You can sell your papad to the provisional stores, different bazaars, departmental stores, supermarkets, etc., and facilitate routine buying. With differential or competitive pricing, you may gain loyal customers.

2. Framing the right business plan

Crafting and framing a business plan is a  prerequisite before starting any business. It should consist of various things and elements like the process, materials, suppliers, brand name, logo, goals, objectives, followed by adequate research. Research the papad business in India and then frame a procedure to commence the same. You should know the various items which are required while starting a papad business, the costing of raw materials, the profit margin, analysing the competitor’s, pricing strategy, etc.

Also, you need to evaluate the amount of fixed capital required, the initial investment amount, and the numerous costs associated with this business. If you are looking forward to loans or any financial help, you should be aware of the various policies of the banks and financial institutions.

3. Investment and funding

Prepare a rough statement of the expenses that will occur while venturing into the papad-making business in India. Few costs are fixed, and few will be variable depending upon the business conditions. After analysing and arriving at the cost sheet, you need to know further where the finance will come from.

If you rely on your savings, then they should be sufficient enough, which does not hamper the cash flow of business. If you are willing to take a loan for your business, you can either go for a term loan or working capital loan from banks or financial institutions. You can get access to financial services, and overdraft facilities are also available. Or you can find investors for your papad-making business start-up.

4. Raw material requirement

Prepare a list of items that are required regularly while making papad. All those items are the raw materials of your papad business, and their costs should be economical. If you want your papad recipe to be unique and the best one, know your raw materials well and maintain adequate stock of them. The raw materials for this business are different types of flour, pulses, if any, flavours, spices, oil, packaging items, weighing scale, etc.

5. Papad making machine

The machinery required for making papad depends largely on the scale of your business and the mode of automation selected. The mode of automation for your papad business can either be manual, automatic, or semi-automatic. After deciding on the same, analyse the prices of the papad machine or papad maker machinery and contact the supplier who will give you the best pricing.

The price of a papad machine may be as low as INR 1000 if we select the manual way (preparing handmade papad). If we are looking for semi-automatic and automatic mode (machine-based production), then it starts from somewhere around INR 1,00,000 for the machinery. The secondary papad maker machine consists of the drier also and is a bit expensive but supports the production of large quantity papad.

6. Papad making process

The papad-making process is a simple one, and it is explained in simple terms below. First, select the pulse of which the papad has to be made. Add water and flour to the pulses, then add salt, spices, and sodium bicarbonate. Mix these ingredients well and prepare them into a dough.

Keep the dough aside for 30 mins and then prepare small balls which weigh 7-8 grams each. Put these balls into the machine and press them to convert them into a circular form. Those thin discs like papad should be then kept for drying. Once they are dried properly, pack them according to their weights, whether in the pack of 500gm or 1kg, etc.

7. Choosing a unique name for your business

The name of your business should go in line with the nature of your business. It should be unique, simple, and easy to remember. People should be able to spell the brand name, which does not create confusion while asking for our papad. The text, font, colour, etc., should be designed aesthetically and catchy enough.

8. Marketing and branding

The marketing and branding of your papad business are extremely important as it is directly connected to the sale of your product. If you put a good amount of money and effort into marketing your delicious papad, your business can attain new heights. Contact every local distributor, retailer, food processing section, etc., and convince them to sell your product. Provide them free samples at the initial stage. You can also go online with your business and market accordingly.

9. Mandatory license requirement for papad business

Various licenses have been mandated by the Government of India for the papad business. The list of licenses includes FSSAI, SSI/MSME Registration, GST Registration. Registration of the firm, EPF Registration, PFA Act, Trademark for your brand name, Trade licenses, IEC Code, and ESI Registration.

Conclusion

We can conclude that the two crucial areas of papad making are the recipe of papad and the marketing of your papad business or brand. You can start this business with a low investment of Rs.10,000 per month to Rs.250,000 per month. The workforce required ranges from maybe two-three persons up to 10 people depending upon the scale of business. So, after carefully deciding the key areas for a business like manpower requirement, investment, business scale, etc., you must launch your business.

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FAQs

Q. What are the different types of papad available in the Indian marketplace?

Ans. The different types of papad available in the Indian marketplace are Aloo papad, methi papad, moong papad, rice papad, garlic papad, palak papad, masala papad, sabudana papad, poha papad, urad papad, shrimp papad, etc.

Q. In which season the Papad’s demand is expected to go up?

Ans. It is said that papad is demanded all across the year, which is true as well, but during the wintertime, it goes up by approximately 10%-15%.

Q. What are the other names of papad?

Ans. The other names of papad are papadum, papar, etc.

Q. What is the shelf life of papad?

Ans. The shelf life of papad is approximately 2 ½ months to 3 months when stored in a proper place.

Q. What is the starting price of a fully automatic papad-making machine?

Ans. The price of a fully automatic papad-making machine starts from an approximate price of Rs.5,00,000.