Asem Mohiuddin
Jam and jelly is emerging as one of the most profitable businesses in the world. During the year 2020, the global jam and jelly business touched a turnover of 1.6 billion dollars and the experts believe that in the next five years the business will grow further up to 5 per cent. Experts attribute the growth of business to ever increasing urbanization in the world and the changing lifestyle of people.
Most of the people living in cities and towns have little or no time in the morning to prepare breakfast. In such conditions they choose readily available bread and jams to save time. So this has come as a trigger for the business and its growth in the future with an ever increasing urbanization in the world. In India the business is also showing a steep growth given the rapid increase in migration to towns and cities from rural sides. This has thrown open the opportunities for the hundreds of aspiring entrepreneurs to try their luck in the Jam and jelly business.
In Jammu and Kashmir, the UT government has also devised various schemes for the local youths to set up the jam and jelly business units. It is providing various perks and benefits for all those who try to establish such businesses in Jammu and Kashmir.
Per experts there is no better place than Kashmir to set up a unit which has abundant availability of raw material at a very door step. Jam and jelly require fruits and Kashmir has a massive Rs 10000 crore apple industry which gives it an upper edge comparatively alongside the conducive weather.
Now the question is how any aspiring entrepreneur can set up the business unit in Jammu and Kashmir. What are the laid down norms he has to follow. What are the technical requirements and essentially how much money he requires?
Technical requirements
In the first place, the location of the unit shall be decided. The unit shall be at a place where the entrepreneur can have easy access to the raw material. The location shall also have water, electricity and the road facility. The minimum land requirement is 20000 square feet or one kanal to run a base unit of 40 metric tonns of production per annum.
You have to split the land into three portions. Half a portion of land you need to keep for processing purposes. Half of the land can be used for raw material and finished product.
Once you have these requirements in place, you can move up to the second step.
You need around Rs 20 lakh investment to make the unit operational. Around Rs 8 lakh you need for the civil works. In addition to that you need to keep Rs 4 lakh for machinery purposes and Rs 5 lakh as operational cost. The remaining amount shall be retained as capital cost.
Legal formalities
Once you have set up the unit don’t forget to seek the necessary approvals from the concerned departments.
You need to obtain the certificates under Essential Commodities Act 1955, prevention of food adulteration act 1954 and The Fruit Products order 1955. Besides, get the certificates for functioning from the Pollution Control Board.
Let the entrepreneur ensure that he is in touch with the official technical team for the necessary assistance before coming up with the infrastructure for the business to avoid any technical glitches in its functioning. They can guide you to set up the unit appropriately and construct the unit as per the laid down norms. Ensure you are setting up the unit away from residential areas.
Finances
There are some aspiring entrepreneurs who desire to set up the units and have the will to do something extraordinary. But they lack the financial strength. The Jammu and Kashmir government and Government of India have framed several schemes to finance such products. In some schemes the candidate can avail a subsidy upto fifty per cent. The district industries department, JKEDI can help you in this regard who are on ground to promote the business.
To mention here, before starting the unit, the candidate must do the proper recce and ensure he will not face any hassles in availability of raw material and market for the finished product.
Market
The entrepreneur can sell the product to the local hotels, Restaurants, Coffee shops. Bakeries, super markets and provisional stories are also potential customers. If you want to earn more profit you can sell directly to households through social media and other forms of digital marketing. The entrepreneur before starting the business shall do a short term crash course to understand the manufacturing of jams and jelly; however, it doesn’t require any formal education.
