Nigeria is considered a very lucrative market for tomato paste business, but currently there is a limited number of tomato-based production companies in this region. We are going to provide you with some beneficial information regarding this market. Since then, Tomato Jos has been working to develop its method of growing tomatoes, with the goal of improving its harvests while also providing training to local partner farmers. Mehta is the first to acknowledge, "I didn't expect it would take this long. "I anticipated that it would take us around two years to work out the farming, and then we'd be well on our way to figuring out how to process the product. At the end of the day, it took us five years to figure out how to bring gold standard processing to Nigeria and to match those standards with the realities that existed on the ground. The Tomato Jos crew would gain new knowledge with each passing harvest, but they wouldn't be able to put it to use until the following season. "You can't just take a flawless system from California and expect it to function in Nigeria. That's not how it works. You need to determine which activities provide the greatest amount of revenue, which activities are feasible in Nigeria despite the limitations imposed by the country's infrastructure, etc. 
Mehta was reassured that she was heading in the right direction by the steady advancement that her company was making. "The fact that we were approaching it in a manner that was distinct from that of everyone else around us gave me confidence. I came to the conclusion that if we were able to grow our company in this manner, we would be able to prevent new competitors from easily entering the market. Outstripping average yields: Today, Tomato Jos has 350 partner farmers who receive support and education to increase their crop yields for the purpose of supplying the company with tomatoes. In addition, the company has 50 full-time employees, 20 additional local security staff members who patrol the fields, and 20 additional local security staff members who patrol the fields. "At any given time, we hire somewhere between 20 and 200 casual day laborers; that is a pretty substantial employment reach already," the company said on average. At the moment, the tomatoes that are used by the enterprise come from a total of 25 hectares of farmland. Only five hectares of land are devoted to the company's commercial farming operations; the remaining acreage is owned by smallholder farmers. The target is to grow the amount of land that is cultivated to a total of 120 hectares, with the intention of dividing it evenly between its own fields and the land of smallholder farmers. Tomato Jos has been able to accomplish increases in tomato cultivation that are well above the Nigerian baseline yields since the company's first year of operation. Mehta has provided documentation indicating that the country's typical yield of tomatoes is only five metric tonnes per hectare. This information was provided by Mehta. The maximum yield that Tomato Jos has ever attained is 71 tonnes per hectare, while its average production is 39 tonnes per hectare. Tomato Jos has concentrated on modifying more than one hundred distinct agricultural behaviors for the farmers who are participating in its program. As a result, these farmers have seen a gain in their incomes of up to 15 times as much as they did before the program. 
According to Mehta, the fundamentally low productivity of Nigerian farming is a main reason why the country continues to import a significant quantity of food. "In order to make a profit for the processor, the farmer needs to sell at the appropriate price, and despite Nigeria's advances in agricultural technology, imports continue to offer better value." It was not an easy task for Tomato Jos to identify the strategy that would most effectively boost production. The corporation was forced to adapt its strategies in light of the existing conditions. To get 80% of its program farmers to comply with a yield of 50 tonnes per hectare was a significant improvement over getting 10% of farmers to achieve a yield of 100 tonnes per hectare. The country of Nigeria is the thirteenth largest importer of tomato paste in the world. This is in spite of severe post-harvest losses, which account for around 45% of the tomatoes grown in the country. Buyers can't be located for these tomatoes. "There was this obviously strange occurrence on the market, in which the connection between supply and demand appeared to be severed. When you were driving around northern Nigeria at certain times of the year, you would see nothing but stacks and piles of tomatoes because the farmers were unable to sell them. According to Mehta, there was also a market opportunity presented by the manner in which Nigerians use tomato paste as an element of their cuisine. Tomato Jos will advertise that it uses local Nigerian tomatoes, cultivated by local Nigerian farmers. Secondly, it will be looking for distribution arrangements with larger food firms that would see tomato paste as part of their product offer. Distribution is crucial in Nigeria. As Mehta puts it, "If you can get your product into the market through the right distribution channels, it will sell." To be competitive, the company will offer Tomato Jos paste at a price point that is slightly lower than that of market leaders. 
Tomato paste production
The production of tomato paste is regarded as one of the most profitable businesses in the African market. Subsequently, there is going to be a comprehensive step by step tomato paste processing procedure.
- The tomato processing line as a whole is comprised of the following systems: a lifting system, a bubble water cleaning system, a sorting system, a crushing system, a preheating enzyme inactivation system, a pulping system, a vacuum concentration system, a sterilizing system, and an aseptic bag filling system.
- The production capacity for fresh tomatoes per day is 40 tons, 60 tons, 100 tons, 150 tons, 300 tons, 400 tons, 500 tons, 600 tons, 800 tons, 1000 tons, 1200 tons, and 1500 tons
- The percentages of tomato paste concentration are 28%, 30%, 32%, and 36% and 38% respectively.
- The steam consumption of the tomato paste evaporator is drastically cut down thanks to the utilization of a secondary steam condensation recovery system.
- Because of the unique effect of the crusher and the low-temperature concentration (the first effective evaporation temperature is less than 70 ° C), the material only spends a short amount of time in the evaporator, so the amount of nutrients that are lost, such as the red pigment in ketchup, is minimal.
- The entire tomato paste processing line is fully automatic, and all of the control parts utilize internationally renowned brands such as SIEMENS PLC, SCHNEIDER electronic parts, DANFOSS converter and other world first-class brand components to ensure that the whole processing line has a high level of performance.
- The manufacturing of tomato paste utilizes a low-temperature vacuum evaporator, which results in a significant reduction in the amount of energy required; concurrently, the flavor and nutrients of tomatoes are retained to the greatest extent possible in a low-temperature state. In order to minimize the amount of cooling water that is lost through evaporator waste, the water from the outer tank is recirculated throughout the system.
- The original, naturally occurring aromatic components of the ketchup product are preserved with careful attention paid to the process design as a whole as well as the arrangement of the pipeline connections. Because the entire process of cooling and heating, as well as the transfer of material, is completed in a short amount of time and over a short distance, this not only effectively prevents the heat-sensitive reflection of flavor substances from escaping, but it also reduces the quality damage caused by the oxidation reaction of tomato puree when it is heated to a high temperature.
- All of the primary equipment in the tomato paste processing line is made of SUS304/316 material, which guarantees that the final products will be of a high quality and adhere to strict hygiene standards.
- Because the equipment used in the production of tomatoes is versatile, a wide variety of tomato products—including tomato paste, tomato sauce, ketchup, tomato puree, and tomato juice—can be made according to the free combination of the goods produced and the needs of the client.
- Each and every machine used in the processing of tomatoes is equipped with a linkage start and stop function and is managed by a PLC. This helps to significantly reduce the amount of labor required and significantly boosts production efficiency.
- The finished goods made from tomatoes can be packaged in sachets, bottles, cartons, flexible pouches, aseptic bags, and metal cans, among other options.