Is the cold room business profitable in Nigeria? A quick Google search on whether the cold room business is profitable in Nigeria reveals a number of things. It shows that not just you, but many people out there are interested in the cold room business, either as a main hustle or a side hustle. Most of all, it reveals that the cold room business has made millionaires. So what exactly about the cold room business makes it a profitable venture? Nigerians consume a lot of meat, fish, turkey, chicken etc, and we are not just saying this. Hardly a day goes by without the average Nigerian having one of these on their plate. Even the Fishery Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea, claims that Nigerians consume about 1.2 billion birds (mainly chicken and turkey) every year and consume about 3.32 million metric tonnes of fish annually.  The kicker is that most Nigerian homes buy these birds and fish frozen, and since the federal government banned the importation of frozen goods, all of them have to be frozen in our home country. The people who had the foresight and thought to themselves, “why don’t I become the go-to place for people to freeze these birds and fish?” have become really successful. The great part is that they don’t just use their cold rooms for just birds and fish. They also refrigerate things like prawns, ice cream, ice blocks, and yoghurt, among others. What exactly is a cold room? The simplest way to think of a cold room is to think of it as a walk-in refrigerator. Depending on how large the cold room business is, it can either be a freezer with plenty of storage space or a walk-in storage facility with the temperature of a freezer. Cold rooms are typically used for the storage and preservation of easily perishable goods like livestock, poultry, and seafood, among other things. How much do you need to start a poultry business? The amount of money you will need largely depends on a number of factors like the location of your cold room, and how large your facility is going to be.  For someone who plans to be a wholesaler rather than a retailer, you will need a larger facility and need around 8 million Naira to get started. This 8 million will help give you a competitive advantage as it means you can get a steady source of power supply and a good facility at a great location. You don’t want to be that person with a cold room business in the middle of nowhere. If you are starting a smaller cold room business, you don’t need to invest as much, and might just need about 3-4 million Naira. Like we said originally, the cost depends on what kind of facility you want to run and the kind of equipment you want to have.  What will investing this money in your cold room business get you? Good equipment: The necessary equipment for a cold room setup is not cheap and with this you can get a good chest freezer, measuring scales, safety equipment, cutting table, cutting planks, cutlass, and knives. A good location: A competitive edge in the cold room business is having a place people can easily get to, such as a place near residential areas or the market depending on who you are serving and a place with motorable roads. Constant electricity supply: A fundamental part of the cold room business is good power supply, and proper investment into the business should be able to get you a good generator. This will power your freezer or cold room facility and ensure none of your goods get spoilt. How much profit can realistically be made? Like with a lot of businesses, there is no limit to the amount of money you can make with your cold room business, but making a lot of money is dependent on a number of factors. Factors like having a great business plan, having the right equipment, being in a great location, having a good source of power supply, finding your niche, having reliable suppliers,  and storing fast-moving goods. Read also: Cold room business in Nigeria What are some challenges involved with the cold room business? Lack of access to loans: Except if you had a great source of income before starting your cold room business, getting access to the money needed to start can be difficult. Loan companies are not very willing to give out loans because they believe you might not be able to pay back, or you might not be able to create a profitable business. Electricity: It is a well-known fact that we live in a nation with an erratic power supply, and it costs a lot to run a generator nowadays, especially with the rising cost of petrol and diesel. If you don’t have adequate electricity, your goods can get spoilt, and you can’t exactly sell spoilt goods to people. So a lack of adequate power supply leads to a loss of profit. Cost of maintenance: The problem with building a cold room is that you can not just build a cold room and forget about it. The freezer, refrigerator, generator and other equipment you use must be regularly maintained and serviced depending on how big your business is. This can cost a lot sometimes. Tax and Levies: Doing business in Nigeria means you have to pay taxes and if that was the only thing you had to pay that would be great. You also have people in the market imposing levies, either for protection or just for the fact that your shop exists. Finding Reliable Suppliers/Importers: Except if you run a farm business on the side, you also need to find suppliers that will never let you down and ensure you never run low on stock. This can be hard, especially with the unpredictability of doing business in Nigeria, so to reduce the risk of disappointment you must

  WHAT IS A CHILLER COLD ROOM?   A chiller cold room also commonly referred to as a cooler room is a type of storage or processing cold room that operates in the temperature range of +10c to about +180c. This type of cold room is used in the storage and preservation of products that their preservation temperatures are in the positive temperature range. Ofin Global Engineering chiller cold room designed to lower the temperature of the room below the ambient temperature by eliminating the hot air in the room and throwing it into the environment while maintaining the room temperature in the positive region. Chilling products and storing perishable items in a chiller room is an effective way to ensure that your food is preserved and ready to eat when you need it. This style of storage room is designed to maintain a steady temperature of about 1-18°C (34-64°F) throughout. Chilled storage rooms are often equipped with refrigeration units and sometimes air conditioning, which ensure that the temperature remains at the desired level. One major advantage of using a chiller room for food preservation is that it does not require the use of a hermetically-sealed environment such as a walk-in cooler. In the early days of refrigeration, the chilling of food and beverage was accomplished by filling a room with ice. This was typically done in the kitchen or at the bar, but when the need arose, it could be done in the dining room or other public areas. The ice would be circulated, broken up, and filtered by the staff, ensuring that the customer was always served with the highest quality and freshest product. Today, the benefits of a chilled room are well known, and they are used in the preservation of a variety of products.   AREAS OF APPLICATION In the food industry, a chiller cold room is commonly used to store and process foods at temperatures between about +10c to about +180c. The chiller cold room is used to store perishable foods such as farm produce like vegetables, fruits, meats produce, and dairy products and are often used as a processing room for foods that require low temperatures, such as jams and jellies. They are also used to store products that require preservation, such as pickles, olives, and capers. Although the primary function of a chiller room is to store and preserve perishable foods, they are often used as a secondary storage room for food products that require a cool temperature, such as ice cream. At Ofin Global HVAC&R Engineering, we design Chiller rooms for various professionals in different fields, to preserve their products. Below are some other areas where chiller rooms are applicable: FARMS The chiller cold rooms are used majorly used by farmers to preserve fruits and vegetables harvested from the farm. The storage temperature of fruits and vegetables ranges between +50c to +180c, depending on the fruit or vegetable type. It is also used by a mechanized poultry farmer to chill the water given to the farm birds for drinking. CONFECTIONARIES The chiller room is used by confectionary stores, for the preservation of their chocolates, berries, sweets, cakes, flowers, and the likes. These products have a storage temperature ranging from +100 c to +180c depending on the product. PHARMACEUTICALS The chiller room is used by the pharmacist and in laboratories for the storage of drugs, vaccines, blood, etc…Certain drugs and vaccines are meant to be consistently in a present positive temperature range, likewise blood. They all have a storage temperature ranging from +20c to +80c.   Ofin Global Chiller Cold Room Design Features The areas in which food is stored in a chiller room must be designed to maintain the desired temperature. In most cases, the walls and ceiling of the room are insulated to provide insulation against the cold air, with the insulation being continuous throughout the room. The floor of the room is often insulated as well. At Ofin Global Engineering, we specially customize our chillers to perform optimally even in extreme temperature regions of the country. Below are some of the major features of our chiller room: Refrigeration System The refrigeration system which is one of the major features of the chiller room consists of basically the Compressor, Condenser, Evaporator, Metering Device, and other Auxiliary components for the protection and efficacy of the refrigeration system. At Ofin Global Engineering, we have expatriates who pay undivided attention to this aspect of the chiller manufacturing process. Insulated Panels This is another feature of the chiller that determines its performance. At Ofin Global Engineering, we make use of top-quality Poly-urethane panels of 100mm thickness in the assembling of the chiller room body. This is necessary to combat the high ambient of any region of the country. Electrical Control Panels Our electrical control panel consists of protective devices protecting the refrigeration unit from damage that can be caused by an electrical power surge. Thermostat We make use of top quality electrical temperature control thermostat in monitoring and regulating the chiller room temperature within the preset temperature range. Aluminum and Stainless fitting We make use of Aluminum and Stainless materials for the internal fittings of our chiller room. This is a necessary practice to prevent rust and corrosion in the chiller room. These are some of the special features of our chiller room. Conclusively, the work of a Chiller room is to cool the product inside it, by gradually removing the heat present in the product, through the compression system of the refrigeration cycle. The temperature of the chiller room is generally brought below the ambient temperature, and it is maintained between the preset temperature range (not below +1 degree centigrade). Ofin Global HVAC&R Engineering has a proven track record of providing high-quality customized cold rooms that suit our client’s purposes. We also pride ourselves on our consistent completion of projects both on time and within budget. To find out more about cold rooms or to book a consultation, why not contact Ofin Global

Cold room business is one of the most lucrative businesses in the SME sector in today’s Nigeria. Every day, some businessmen and women across Nigeria work hard to take advantage of the ever-present need for seafood, poultry products, beef, fruits, vegetables, and the like. In the process of solving this ever-growing challenge of people’s basic needs, they are smiling at the banks. While most people don’t know that this money-spinning business is lucrative, many Nigerian businessmen and women have become multi-millionaires as a result of investing in the cold room business. In today’s Nigeria, It is almost impossible for people to eat a meal without accompanying it with fish, meat, chicken, or turkey, hence the demand for more cold rooms to meet these products storage. This business is not as rowdy as most of the businesses out there. From fish to meat, turkey, and chicken, there will always be a need for frozen foods consumption every day in Nigeria. According to statistics by the Fishery Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea Nigerians consume about 1.2 billion birds (mainly chicken and turkey) every year. In the same vein, they consume about 3.32 million metric tonnes of fish annually. These stats are an indication of a huge market environment where both the farmers and businessmen in this line have the potential to make billions in revenues. Before we dive into how to start the business, let’s see what a cold room is and what the business entails. What is a Cold Room? What is a Cold Room? As defined in my last article, cold rooms also known as walk-ins in a simple language are fridges or freezers with larger storage space. Technically cold rooms are enclosed walk-in facilities which have their internal temperature controlled using refrigerants. In another word, these are storage rooms with a lower and controlled temperature meant for the storage of perishable goods and products. WHAT IS THE COLD ROOM BUSINESS ALL ABOUT? The Cold Room Business entails the storage, preservation, and distribution of perishable food items; direct from the farms to the consumers. Farm produce majorly poultry produce, (such as chicken, turkey, and seafood) typically passes through various distribution channels before getting to the consumers. During this distribution process, a lot of business activities occur. Now without much talk, let us go into the process of starting a cold room business here in Nigeria. To start a Cold Room business you have to first be able to determine how you want to run your own cold room business. DETERMINE YOUR BUSINESS MODEL   Your first assignment here is to figure out how you want to run your cold room business. You can call this a business plan or whatever name you like to call it. When it comes to the cold room business, there are two major ways you could go about it. With your cold room, you could go into the frozen food business I.e buying frozen foods products from direct importers or big farmers (for poultry products) and selling a distributor, wholesalers, or directly to the final consumers depending on your capacity. Aside from the frozen foods and poultry business, you can also go into the dairy products business which is another green aspect of the cold room business without much competition. The dairy business involves the sales of fresh milk and yogurts products to dairy companies with ever-increasing demands of their raw materials for production. 2. HELPING PEOPLE STORE THEIR PRODUCTS Some cold room owners don’t sell anything of their own in the cold room; all they do is focus on helping other people store and preserve their products and they get paid for their service. Once you have determined your Business model then you can go ahead to make a business plan on how to start the business and make a profit. The following are some important steps to consider when making a cold room business plan If you want to make it big in this business. COLD ROOM BUSINESS PLAN 1. Do Your Proper Market Survey Just like any other business anywhere in the world, doing a proper market survey can never be overestimated. This is like the bedrock of your business, which has a way of determining your business success and survival rate. At this stage, you might want to research if there are existing cold room businesses in your area or the area where you want to establish your business. A good way to go about this effectively is speaking to retailers who buy and sell fish, meat, turkey, and chicken of where they source their products in the area. 2. Choose a Suitable Location for your business When sitting your Cold Room Business in Nigeria, especially Lagos, some major important factors need to be considered. These factors include but are not limited to; You need to put these and more into consideration when deciding on your location, and depending on your business model, plan, and capacity, ¼ to 1 plot of land space should be enough to start up your cold room business 3. Register your business Just like any other business in Nigeria, it is important to choose a name for your business and get it registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria. Depending on the scale on which you want to operate your business, you might also need to register your business with some relevant state or local government authorities if you are going to be operating on a large scale like distributorship. 4. Get The Required Equipment For Your Business As the name implies, a Cold Room is the most important equipment needed to start this business. But aside from the cold room listed below are some other necessary equipment that will be required for the business set-up. 5. Alternative Power Source As the electric power supply in the country can not be relied upon for this business, it is of utmost importance to get a reliable stand-by alternative power source (Generator). 6.