Like any other small business, starting a Cameroon pepper business is daunting, even for the most experienced entrepreneurs. This article provides a practical guide on starting the pepper business and making profits from it.
This comprehensive guide focuses more on the business side of pepper production and not the farming aspect in Cameroon.
Pepper is under spice business in Cameroon because it is a kind of spice. Like back pepper, ginger, turmeric, garlic, thyme, curry, onions, etc., pepper is used to flavor and color almost all Cameroonian and intercontinental foods.
Whether it is dried, grounded, or fresh, it is still essential in making foods. This is why Cameroonians buy pepper all the time, thus making the pepper business a lucrative business.
Read: How to Start a Restaurant or Food Business in Cameroon
The North West and the southwest regions are the most involved tribes in the pepper production business in Cameroon. They are good at running and maintaining the business, but this does not mean anybody from any region or tribe cannot do the business as pepper business is not really about the region but about a pearl of common business wisdom.
Types of Pepper in Cameroon
The kinds of pepper that are commonly eaten in Cameroon are as follows:
- Black pepper (Cameroon pepper)
- Scotch bonnets (ata rodo)
- Peri-peri
- Red bell pepper
- Cayenne pepper
- We also have ground pepper, which is a blend of different peppers altogether or just one type of pepper ground into powdered form.
Is Pepper Business Really Profitable?
Yes, both the fresh pepper business and the dry pepper business are profitable businesses in Cameroon. I gave a few reasons for this earlier, but let us look into these reasons.
Like I mentioned earlier, there is hardly a kind of food or soup in Cameroon that Cameroonians do not use pepper for cooking. Even those who do not like pepper due to its hotness still add a little of it when cooking.
All Cameroonian homes use pepper for cooking. In fact, pepper is a must-have spice in the Cameroonian kitchen.
Another reason why the pepper spice business is profitable is that restaurants and bars businesses in Cameroon also use pepper for cooking. These businesses buying pepper from you can triple your profits even as a newcomer in the business.
Pepper business is also profitable in Cameroon because you can make money selling pepper to boarding schools that cook food for their students.
Now that we have talked extensively about why the pepper business is profitable let us talk about how you can start your own pepper business from scratch without any experience in buying and selling.
Read Also: How to become rich in Cameroon.
How to Start Cameroon Pepper Business and Make Profit
To start a successful Cameroon pepper business and make a considerable profit, do the following:
- Do your Market Survey
- Get the capital needed for the business
- Buy your Fresh or Dry Pepper
- Sell Fresh Pepper or Dry Pepper
- Start making profits from the Pepper Business
1. Do your Market Survey
If you really want to go into the pepper business in Cameroon, you need to do some findings on your own so that the beginning of the business can be easy for you.
For example, you need to know if the area where you reside or where you want to be selling the pepper is profitable. If it is, you need to know where you will be getting your pepper from and how to transport it to your shop or space.
If you want to go into the fresh pepper business, you need to know how to preserve the pepper for long periods without it getting spoilt or rotten. If you want to go into the dry pepper or ground pepper business, you need to know where you can buy this pepper at the lowest prices.
Let me give you some tips on how you can do this successfully in your area. So my best advice as regards this is for you to locate and meet other pepper sellers in your area to give you all this information.
Ask them where they buy their fresh pepper for those who sell fresh pepper, and as for those who sell dry pepper, ask them where they buy their dry pepper in bulk.
You can also ask them their opinion about the business and their advice for you as you’re going into the business. The truth is they will tell you many things about the business that you will never know as a newbie into the pepper business.
2. Get the Capital Needed for the business
After doing all these findings, the next step will be to find out the capital needed to start your pepper business. The capital needed to start a pepper business in Cameroon often depends on how big you want to go into the business.
Maybe you want to rent a shop and be selling tomatoes alongside your pepper business. You will need a starting capital of about 750,000 Francs CFA, of which you are going to spend about 55% of the capital on renting a shop and the remaining 35% to buy pepper. The remaining 10% can be reserved for transportation costs.
But if you just want to use a kiosk to start the business, you will need a capital of about 200000 XAF – 350000 XAF to start.
Read Also: Poultry Farming in Cameroon
3. Buy your Fresh or Dry Pepper
Where you will be buying your pepper depends on how close this place is to you. If you are in the North West Region, you can buy the pepper from any foodstuff market close to you. This can be gotten from the women who live in nearby villages.
Like I said earlier, the way we preserve fresh pepper is quite different from how we preserve dry pepper. If it is fresh pepper you bought immediately, you get to your shop or where you want to sell them, remove them from the basket or sack, and put them in a place where fresh air can reach it.
This is to make sure they do not get rotten quickly.
If it is dry pepper you bought and want to sell, whether it is ground pepper or dry pepper, you can leave them in their sacks or container as long as they are not exposed to water.
4. Sell Fresh Pepper or Dry Pepper
Let us say you bought a bag of fresh pepper for 20000 FCFA. You can rest assured that you can sell the bag of pepper for 25000 FCFA to 35000 FCFA. All you just have to do is display and sell your pepper in small sizes or in bags (wholesale). A mainly growing market for export is the Nigerian market. Onitsha and Lagos are amongst the best towns in Nigeria to sell them.
Please make sure that your pepper is not oversold or undersold. For more guidance on this, visit other pepper sellers around you to know how they display their pepper in small quantities.
If it is dry pepper or ground pepper you want to sell, it must be packaged in nylons or containers and sold at moderate prices.
5. Start making profits from the Pepper Business
There are different ways you can make profits from your pepper business if you know different ways to increase your sales. The number one way you can increase the profits in your pepper business is to sell your pepper to your family and friends.
Yes, family and friends are the first supporters when it comes to starting a business in Cameroon. You need to tell them about your business and ask for their excellent patronage discounts.
The second way you can increase sales in your pepper business, which will increase profits in your pepper business, is to sell your pepper in large quantities.
Like I said earlier, instead of selling in small quantities. Sometimes you can sell pepper in large quantities for restaurants or people that want to do large-scale events.
Another way you can increase the profits in your pepper business is to consider selling your pepper online. You can sell your online pepper e-commerce websites like Jumia that can help you achieve this quickly.
Risks or Challenges Associated with Pepper Business in Cameroon
There are few challenges or risks in the pepper business in Cameroon, but the most common are:
About 40% of fresh pepper gets spoilt before they get to the market or, worse Cameroonian kitchens, and this is because there are no refrigerators to preserve these peppers till when they are needed.
Losing both fresh pepper or dry pepper to rodents or any insects like cockroaches. The best way to make sure this doesn’t happen is to make your shop or where you keep your pepper rodent proof.
Not making enough profits if you do not sell your pepper on time. Because pepper is a fresh product, it has a short time it can spend on the counter. If it is not sold within this period, you will make losses.
Conclusion
Pepper business is a profitable business in Cameroon, especially if you know how to sell the products on time. Furthermore, you also need to be good with calculations to be profitable in the business.
Like any other small business, starting a Cameroon pepper business is daunting, even for the most experienced entrepreneurs. This article provides a practical guide on starting the pepper business and making profits from it.
This comprehensive guide focuses more on the business side of pepper production and not the farming aspect in Cameroon.
Pepper is under spice business in Cameroon because it is a kind of spice. Like back pepper, ginger, turmeric, garlic, thyme, curry, onions, etc., pepper is used to flavor and color almost all Cameroonian and intercontinental foods.
Whether it is dried, grounded, or fresh, it is still essential in making foods. This is why Cameroonians buy pepper all the time, thus making the pepper business a lucrative business.
Read: How to Start a Restaurant or Food Business in Cameroon
The North West and the southwest regions are the most involved tribes in the pepper production business in Cameroon. They are good at running and maintaining the business, but this does not mean anybody from any region or tribe cannot do the business as pepper business is not really about the region but about a pearl of common business wisdom.
Types of Pepper in Cameroon
The kinds of pepper that are commonly eaten in Cameroon are as follows:
- Black pepper (Cameroon pepper)
- Scotch bonnets (ata rodo)
- Peri-peri
- Red bell pepper
- Cayenne pepper
- We also have ground pepper, which is a blend of different peppers altogether or just one type of pepper ground into powdered form.
Is Pepper Business Really Profitable?
Yes, both the fresh pepper business and the dry pepper business are profitable businesses in Cameroon. I gave a few reasons for this earlier, but let us look into these reasons.
Like I mentioned earlier, there is hardly a kind of food or soup in Cameroon that Cameroonians do not use pepper for cooking. Even those who do not like pepper due to its hotness still add a little of it when cooking.
All Cameroonian homes use pepper for cooking. In fact, pepper is a must-have spice in the Cameroonian kitchen.
Another reason why the pepper spice business is profitable is that restaurants and bars businesses in Cameroon also use pepper for cooking. These businesses buying pepper from you can triple your profits even as a newcomer in the business.
Pepper business is also profitable in Cameroon because you can make money selling pepper to boarding schools that cook food for their students.
Now that we have talked extensively about why the pepper business is profitable let us talk about how you can start your own pepper business from scratch without any experience in buying and selling.
Read Also: How to become rich in Cameroon.
How to Start Cameroon Pepper Business and Make Profit
To start a successful Cameroon pepper business and make a considerable profit, do the following:
- Do your Market Survey
- Get the capital needed for the business
- Buy your Fresh or Dry Pepper
- Sell Fresh Pepper or Dry Pepper
- Start making profits from the Pepper Business
1. Do your Market Survey
If you really want to go into the pepper business in Cameroon, you need to do some findings on your own so that the beginning of the business can be easy for you.
For example, you need to know if the area where you reside or where you want to be selling the pepper is profitable. If it is, you need to know where you will be getting your pepper from and how to transport it to your shop or space.
If you want to go into the fresh pepper business, you need to know how to preserve the pepper for long periods without it getting spoilt or rotten. If you want to go into the dry pepper or ground pepper business, you need to know where you can buy this pepper at the lowest prices.
Let me give you some tips on how you can do this successfully in your area. So my best advice as regards this is for you to locate and meet other pepper sellers in your area to give you all this information.
Ask them where they buy their fresh pepper for those who sell fresh pepper, and as for those who sell dry pepper, ask them where they buy their dry pepper in bulk.
You can also ask them their opinion about the business and their advice for you as you’re going into the business. The truth is they will tell you many things about the business that you will never know as a newbie into the pepper business.
2. Get the Capital Needed for the business
After doing all these findings, the next step will be to find out the capital needed to start your pepper business. The capital needed to start a pepper business in Cameroon often depends on how big you want to go into the business.
Maybe you want to rent a shop and be selling tomatoes alongside your pepper business. You will need a starting capital of about 750,000 Francs CFA, of which you are going to spend about 55% of the capital on renting a shop and the remaining 35% to buy pepper. The remaining 10% can be reserved for transportation costs.
But if you just want to use a kiosk to start the business, you will need a capital of about 200000 XAF – 350000 XAF to start.
Read Also: Poultry Farming in Cameroon
3. Buy your Fresh or Dry Pepper
Where you will be buying your pepper depends on how close this place is to you. If you are in the North West Region, you can buy the pepper from any foodstuff market close to you. This can be gotten from the women who live in nearby villages.
Like I said earlier, the way we preserve fresh pepper is quite different from how we preserve dry pepper. If it is fresh pepper you bought immediately, you get to your shop or where you want to sell them, remove them from the basket or sack, and put them in a place where fresh air can reach it.
This is to make sure they do not get rotten quickly.
If it is dry pepper you bought and want to sell, whether it is ground pepper or dry pepper, you can leave them in their sacks or container as long as they are not exposed to water.
4. Sell Fresh Pepper or Dry Pepper
Let us say you bought a bag of fresh pepper for 20000 FCFA. You can rest assured that you can sell the bag of pepper for 25000 FCFA to 35000 FCFA. All you just have to do is display and sell your pepper in small sizes or in bags (wholesale). A mainly growing market for export is the Nigerian market. Onitsha and Lagos are amongst the best towns in Nigeria to sell them.
Please make sure that your pepper is not oversold or undersold. For more guidance on this, visit other pepper sellers around you to know how they display their pepper in small quantities.
If it is dry pepper or ground pepper you want to sell, it must be packaged in nylons or containers and sold at moderate prices.
5. Start making profits from the Pepper Business
There are different ways you can make profits from your pepper business if you know different ways to increase your sales. The number one way you can increase the profits in your pepper business is to sell your pepper to your family and friends.
Yes, family and friends are the first supporters when it comes to starting a business in Cameroon. You need to tell them about your business and ask for their excellent patronage discounts.
The second way you can increase sales in your pepper business, which will increase profits in your pepper business, is to sell your pepper in large quantities.
Like I said earlier, instead of selling in small quantities. Sometimes you can sell pepper in large quantities for restaurants or people that want to do large-scale events.
Another way you can increase the profits in your pepper business is to consider selling your pepper online. You can sell your online pepper e-commerce websites like Jumia that can help you achieve this quickly.
Risks or Challenges Associated with Pepper Business in Cameroon
There are few challenges or risks in the pepper business in Cameroon, but the most common are:
About 40% of fresh pepper gets spoilt before they get to the market or, worse Cameroonian kitchens, and this is because there are no refrigerators to preserve these peppers till when they are needed.
Losing both fresh pepper or dry pepper to rodents or any insects like cockroaches. The best way to make sure this doesn’t happen is to make your shop or where you keep your pepper rodent proof.
Not making enough profits if you do not sell your pepper on time. Because pepper is a fresh product, it has a short time it can spend on the counter. If it is not sold within this period, you will make losses.
Conclusion
Pepper business is a profitable business in Cameroon, especially if you know how to sell the products on time. Furthermore, you also need to be good with calculations to be profitable in the business.