Crayfish, which belongs to the aquatic animal family of crustaceans, is found in fresh water. When boiled or dried, they are used in the preparation of food, and are best served in processed (smoked, dried and crushed) form in combination with such soup delicacies as ogbono, egusi and others, or with moi-moi (beans derivative). Crayfish is rich in protein and vitamins. In this era of mass migration of Nigerians/ Africans to Europe/ America and the Far East, processed crayfish is something that people who have left home for long and still relish their age-long traditional food-menu, cannot do without.
Crayfish is most cheaply sourced from Akwa-Ibom, Cross River, Rivers, Bayelsa and Lagos states of Nigeria. The raw/ fresh crayfish is usually caught from the ocean and lakes and rivers, in large numbers at a time by the fishermen, with the aid of fishing nets, baskets and traps. They are thereafter washed, sorted, smoked, sun-dried and cleaned up. In the local market the commonest form of the product that is readily prepared for sale is the smoked, sun-dried form that is not yet crushed. It is packaged in different kinds of cellophane bags weighing 10kg, 15kg and 20 kg, respectively. Cellophane is a thin, transparent sheet made of regenerated cellulose. Its low permeability to air, oils, lubricants, bacteria, and water makes it useful for food packaging. Akwa Ibom state crayfish has the highest quality in terms of taste and cleanliness; that variety is sand-free and impurities are reduced to the barest minimum.
The biggest crayfish markets within the state of Akwa Ibom are Oron, Ibaka and Ibeno. Some people even go to neighbouring Cameroun to buy when there is shortage in the Nigerian markets.
The smoked dried crayfish is thereafter crushed/ ground, weighed and packaged in air-tight sachets. Some people prefer to cook it like that as fish supplement or alternative, without grinding but grinding assures the best taste. The quickest way to grind crayfish is by employing the use of a grinding machine. The scale of equipment employed would depend very much on the quantity of the stock to be processed; the larger the stock, the more sophisticated the machinery that would be needed. After grinding, then comes packaging. In order to carter for the various consumer segments at the retail end of the market, it is instructive to repack varying quantities of ground crayfish in smaller sizes of nylon bags: 1kg, 5kg, and 10kg, similar to how ground egusi and ground ogbono are handled. An appropriate repackaging material used is the stiff, transparent, neatly labelled nylon bag with ‘sealing mouth’. It has to be transparent so that buyers can see through and get attracted to the product. It has to be sealed air-tight in order to keep it dry and protect it from ants and other infestations. For purposes of delivery to distant foreign markets, packets should be neatly inserted into fittingly sized cartons. A smart product strategy necessitates customization or rebranding.
Adding a cube of maggi seasoning to the crayfish in soup-sauce further enhances the taste of the soup. When the soup is done, deal with it with pounded yam or eba or amala and you will surely enjoy a delicious meal. Ask Africans in diaspora why they inadvertently lick the fingers loudly when they eat, and they will tell you quite frankly that the sensation is in the pudding, referring to the captivating taste of crayfish. This is exactly the reason why there is a mad rush for ground, packaged crayfish when it arrives at the sale stands in African food markets abroad. Consignments transported to the foreign markets from Africa get finished in a couple of days, and the product continues to be scarce. Even as more and more sellers join in the ground crayfish trade, there continues to be a ready market for the product. Why not decide to join the league of happy exporters today?
Imagine an existing exporter who buys crayfish from the domestic market on wholesale basis with local currency (Naira) and resells in dollars in the international market. He starts small with a capital of about N600, 000 and buys up 20 bags (each bag weighing 20kg and costing around N30, 000 in the local market). He later takes the 20 bags to the international market for resale. Do you know how much he would make? Big money! Let’s do the calculation and diagnostic. Based on a recent market study, a bag of ground crayfish weighing 2oz averagely costs $10.29 in the African markets in the USA. The standard international conversion rate is: 16 oz is equivalent to 453.6g. This implies that 1oz of crayfish is equivalent to 28.3g, and 2 oz approximates 56.6g. Proportionately, 1kg bag of the crayfish would be resold for $181.95 and the 20 bags (20kg) for $3, 639. At the current exchange rate of $1=N360, a gross turnover of N1, 310,040 will accrue from the total sales. If this potential exporter committed additional funds estimated at 23% of the total turnover settling freight/ shipping, insurance and incidental charges, he would still end up realizing a net turnover of N1m, which guarantees a gross profit of N400, 000. Note that the scale/ volume we are considering here is just comparable to roughly one tenth of the volume of a small container. Assuming the exporter discharges a full container load of the product, he would make at least N4m in a single export transaction. Very few other known businesses in Nigeria today can boast of this level of profitability. Is this not true? So what are you waiting for?
Crayfish export trade is indeed lucrative; more so, because it has a joint demand with Ogbono, Egusi, Pumpkin/ Bitter Leaf, Maggi, and sometimes, Pepper and Poundo-Yam. Hence, it is advisable that the exporter enlarges his profit base by adding Maggi and ground Pepper, and also Poundo-Yam, to the product list (basket of food products he is proposing to trade abroad). We haven’t yet talked about pepper.
Good idea
This is insightful and appealing. Please, what does it entail and how can I go about it assuming I want to start exporting crayfish? I deal on crayfish locally though.