How to Start a Profitable Potato Chips Business: Registration Process, Govt Loans & More

Making potato chips in India is a fantastic business to invest in. You must have noticed that a number of small enterprises and industries are expanding quickly due to the economy's growth. Small business is very important, even in nations that are typically hubs for big business.

To fight poverty and create jobs, small businesses and companies have expanded across multiple areas. Small-scale enterprises are beneficial for developing skills and experience, increasing export potential, and creating the goods and services required to support large-scale industries.

So, if you are looking for an easy business idea with your surplus potato yield, keep on reading this article. We have described everything that’s needed to start and run a profitable potato business, from required equipments, and market analysis, to certification.

How to Start a Potato Chips Business?

Here is a list of everything you need to do to start a successful potato chips business:

Creating a Business Plan: Before starting any business, you should have a foolproof business plan, which has an action plan based on your investment capacity. A project report will be needed as a vital document while applying for a bank loan.

Capital Funds Required: Next step in the plan is to arrange for finances through savings, commercial loans from banks, investors, crowdfunding, etc.

Acquiring the Licence: For a business to be considered authentic and legal, the following licencing and registration is absolutely needed:

• GST Registration

• Trade License

• MSE/SSI Registration

• Trademark

• FSSAI

• IEC Code

After establishing your business, you must complete an online MSME Udyog Aadhaar registration. It helps in acquiring government subsidies.

• Request a trade license at the local municipal authority's office.

• Apply for an FSSAI license.

• You must get BIS registration in order to set up the ISI mark. And in such cases, you must follow the requirements for quality control.

• The state Pollution Control Board will issue you a NOC.

• By registering a trademark, you can secure the company brand name.

• Finally, get your GSTIN so that you can pay your regular taxes.

• Finally, get your GSTIN so that you can pay your regular taxes.

FSSAI Registration Process:

Here’s a step-by-step guide to getting an FSSAI registration:

Step 1: Filing an application

Step 2: Unique application reference number

Step 3: required additional information on an incomplete application

Step 4: Unique application ID

Step 5: Inspection of application and issue of the inspection report

Step 6: Grant of license

Acquiring Unit Space, Machinery, and Equipment: You will need a proper area to carry out your daily business operations so it is important you keep the following things in mind when selecting a unit. Your unit can be either semi-automatic or fully automatic basis so procuring the equipment from reliable and authentic suppliers is a very important job in itself.

Machinery & Equipment Required:

• Batch Fryer

• Washing and Peeling Machine

• Dewatering Machine

• Plastic Trays

• Salting Drum with Inert Gas Flushing Unit

• Spice/ Flavouring Coating Machine

• Spin Dryer/ Hydro Extractor

• Slicing Machine (With Arrangement to Adjust Slice Thickness)

• Vacuum Sealing Machine

• Stainless Steel Working Tools

• Weighing Scales, Dispensers, and Fillers

Important Ingredients Needed for Potato Chips Business:

Edible Oil

Salt

Flavour and Spices

Potato

Since potato chips are available in different flavors, the ingredients change according to the flavor of chips marketed. The abovementioned potato chips ingredients are for the plain salted chips which are a hit in the market. Here are some flavored potato chips available in the market:

Cheese and Onion

Barbeque

Magic Masala

Chilly Lime

Tangy Tomato

Hot and Sweet Chilly etc

Raw Material: Raw materials needed to make this potato chips business a successful one is: salt, flavored spices, edible oil, potato, etc. Other requirements would be Polly pouched and corrugated boxes for packaging of the chips.

Manufacturing Process: Manufacturing the potato chips involves several steps such as sorting, washing, slicing, blanching, drying, frying, mixing, adding flavors, packaging, and then marketing, etc.

Here’s how to make potato chips from the scratch:

The potatoes used to make chips should be large, oval-shaped, disease-free and properly grown. They are well-cleaned in water before being manually peeled with a stainless-steel knife or using a rough potato peeling machine.

The peelings are removed using water splashes. They are then cut into smaller pieces and placed in water to turn brown. In a slicing machine, they are cut into 0.4 to 0.5 cm edgewise slices. Whenever there is a large delay in the subsequent steps of blanching, the slices are once more submerged in cold water to gradually cool down. To prevent oxidation, slices are then kept in water containing 0.05% potassium metabisulphite.

Slices are placed on trays at a rate of 4.88 kg to 7.30 kg per square meter of tray area and blanched in boiling water for around 3 to 5 minutes. The surplus water and fried inedible oil from the blanched chips are then removed using centrifugal hydro-extracting machinery at 180–240 °C for 3–4 minutes.

The fried potato wafers are next placed on a sieve to drain excess oil, allowed to cool, and other seasonings like salt are added before the balsamic mixture is sprayed on as required. Potato chips that have been cooled are then stacked, sealed, and quickly distributed throughout the market. The nitrogen gas in the packet will also be injected, packed, and weighed by the automated packaging process, to keep the chips crunchy for a long time.

How to Market Potato Chips for a Good Profit?

Every business needs marketing to be successful. There are multiple techniques for marketing. You can sell chips by getting in touch with any nearby distributor. On the online portal, you can advertise your chips as well. Nowadays, social media promotion is useful. Listing your products on different e-commerce platforms like Bigbasket, Amazon, Grofers, JioMart, etc. is free of charge. Additionally, you can accept orders from established companies and deliver them.

Government Schemes You Can Use to Start a Profitable Potato Chips Business:

Mudra Scheme- The agency was created as part of this plan to develop and refinance micro units around the nation. It provides capital to a small business sector that is not corporate. It improves the efficiency of companies by providing them the funds needed to run a business.

Atmanirbhar Bharat Schemes- MSMEs and other stressed sectors can get a free collateral loan

Coir Vikas Yojna- It supports a variety of activities, including the development and upgrading of industries and the development of domestic markets.

Entrepreneurship and Skill Development Program- Created to develop young people's knowledge by educating them on the numerous aspects of industrial activity required for establishing small businesses.