Eggs are laid by female animals of birds, reptiles, amphibians and fishes, they usually consist of a yolk, albumen and shell. Each constituent is packed with nutition , calcium, vitamins and protein that makes it a major food consumed by humans. The eggs produced by poultry birds are the most common eggs found, sold and eaten in Nigeria, thereby making egg business one of the most profitable businesses especially when livestock farming has also improved.

Eggs from poultry birds (Chicken, turkey, guinea fowl) are the most viable to be considered for business.

Sources:
Poultry farms
Distributors/Whole salers
Retail shops/ food stores / supermarkets

Why the sudden interest in Eggs?
Eggs serve the following purposes:

A. It is a major food / health source:

1. As accompaniment to other food: Eggs are used in preparation or in addition to other foods, whether fried, boiled, raw or mashed. Such Foods include Plantain (Fried or boiled)/ Dodo , Egg stew, Rice, bread, yam (Bolied and fried). Indomie is the most loved. The way Garri is to sugar, is the same way Indomie is to egg. They are practical twins.

My favorite foods are the moment are ; Dodo special (diced plantain fried with egg), Mesha suya ( Aboki's suya fried with egg).

Eggs can be eaten on their own, boiled, fried or in raw form. Eggs can be fried to give different results, scrambled eggs, omelette, e.tc.

2. Used for baking purposes: Cakes, pastries, breads require eggs as part of their ingredients, also raw egg is used to glaze pastries (meat pies) before baking.
3. As a binding agent: Eggs are used as binding agent to hold mashed meat, bread crumbs, flour, fish together . (Scotch eggs).
4. As part of health and beauty regimen: Raw eggs are used to make facial masks to restore skin suppleness , some people also apply it to wound to form a protective covering and prevent germs.
Quail eggs have been confirmed to reduce diseases and prolong a healthy life in humans.
5. It is the best and readily available source of protein: Protein rich foods such as beans, meat, fish are becoming more expensive, consumers, therefore resort to eating eggs as alternative source of protein. Egg price have been relatively stable, the price increase is not steep unlike other protein food products.

B. It has high yield
A crate of egg is between N600- N800,depending the egg sizes and supplier costs, individual eggs are sold for N30 each, approximately on each crate there is average profit of N100/ N200, the more the eggs sold, the better the yield. If minimum of 10 crates are sold per day x 5 days, there is a profit margin of N5000 per week. But you can improve your output and sell more, I know of a farmer In Ibadan that does an average of N800,000/N900,000 Per day.

C. The business can be easily expanded
Egg production can be increased by acquiring more birds and running expenses reduced, or eggs sold increased by sourcing from other suppliers. Depending on how hard one is ready to work on the business, egg business in Nigeria has a huge growth potential.

D. Reduced losses:
Though eggs has low shelf life, but when kept in the fridge, they last longer , say weeks. Also there is demand for broken eggs, used by bakers and those who use eggs to fry for commercial purpose, so a broken egg doesnt have to be thrown away , it will only be sold at a lower price.

E. Commercially viable. Eggs are sold for other commercial purpose differnt from food or beauty uses. Egg shells are used in decorating projects, easter bunny preparations and other Aesthetic purposes. Even some rare eggs (Ostrich) sold or auctioned to collectors, museums and art lovers.

Most profitable eggs: In order of viability

1. Chicken eggs
2. Guinea fowl eggs
3. Quail eggs
4. Turkey


Getting into the business:
1. First determine the role you will like to play, will you like to raise eggs, have an egg-production farm or be a whole seller/ distributor or just want to be the delivery man, that is act like a courier service, the end user makes transaction with the egg supplier, your duty is just to deliver the eggs to their destination. Know yourself and what you are capable of, to make a good decision, ask yourself the following questions: Is egg business for you? Are you in the business for long-term or short -term? Will you have the patience and determination needed to succeed. Are you cut out for farming or marketing?
eggs on toast
Fried egg
2. Acquire the right knowledge, training, and exposure: Research on all available or previous egg business ventures, their challenges, risks and success. How can you leverage on their strengths?How much capital , space and tools is needed?

3. Get the capital: Source for the funds to start, preferably from savings or friends/family members donation.

4. Operational requirements: Space to operate from and store the eggs, farmland, transport vehicles, egg crates, complimentary cards.
5. Have a business and marketing plan: How much are you giving yourself to turn a tidy profit, whop are your potential customers and where will you be taking the eggs to. Do you have a backup plan, an alternative B and C? Eggs have limited shelf life, so you must make effort to have fresh eggs and sell them off as soon as possible, at least within a week.
6. Set a standard: Source your eggs from reliable farms or wholesalers, know what your customers want, big or small eggs, white or brown eggs, whole or broken eggs? Do not trade of small eggs as big eggs, a practice some make by buying big eggs with big crates and selling small eggs in small crates to make the eggs look bigger, you will lose integrity. Also do not sell rotten eggs. Some stores have specifications of the kind of eggs they would like, if you are targeting those stores. Try to meet their standards.
7. Engage with your customers: Get feed backs, reviews and responses from your customers to know your strengths, weaknesses and which areas need improvement . Have a good customer interaction with them to be able to keep them. Customers are like prostitutes, they go after egg suppliers with better service , who meet their expectation.
8. Be timely in your delivery: Avoid disappointing your customers, have several but reliable options. Eggs can be sourced from farms within and around Lagos and in neighboring environs, Ibadan, Ota, Osun, Ogun and Oyo states.

Your potential customers:

Stores and Supermarkets such as Shoprite, Spar, Food co,
Market women (Dealers in baking ingredients and food)
Caterers and food vendors
Restaurants, food canteens, hotels and offices
Street shops.
Abokis (Mallams/ Hausa traders) or Cooked indomie sellers: They are the current highest users of eggs in Lagos.
Other farms/wholesalers from other regions/states.

Need business ideas, reliable egg suppliers, or more details. Send mail to typearls@gmail.com

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