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Millet / cereal / convenience products

Jowar cereal flakes

TECH-NFIC-031
Record type
Product / SKU
Product category
Millet / cereal / convenience products
Popularity
High Demand
Machinery available at NFIC
Partially

1. Raw materials / commodities

COM-014
Jowar / Sorghum
Validated
Millets

NF availability: Availability: Moderate. Source districts: Kurnool, Nandyal, Anantapur, Sri Sathya Sai, YSR Kadapa, Prakasam and parts of north coastal/tribal districts. ODOP: Nandyal – millet-based products; Vizianagaram – millets. Manufacturing decision: Proceed for flour, malt, snacks or RTC mixes where a cleaned-grain cluster exists. Contract rabi supply and test grain size, moisture and storage stability.

2. NFIC machines required

3. How the product is made

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1. Raw-material acceptance
Identify the lot; remove stones, insects, mouldy and damaged material. Sieve/aspirate dry ingredients before weighing.
Validated

Parameters: Record lot, incoming moisture and rejection weight; keep food grain separate from treated seed.

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2. Grain conditioning
Condition grain for flattening using the selected hydration/thermal process.
Validated
?
3. Flaking
Pass conditioned grain through flaking rolls.
Validated

Parameters: Roll gap, feed moisture and uniform flake thickness.

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4. Drying and grading
Dry flakes, cool and remove fines/defective flakes.
Validated

Parameters: Moisture uniformity and flake breakage.

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5. Optional RTE finishing
For the CFTRI low-fat snack variant, roast, flavour/coat and dry flakes before packing.
Validated

Parameters: The documented finishing route omits deep frying.

?
6. Cooling and packing
Cool in a clean, dry area; weigh, seal and batch-code moisture-barrier food-grade packs.
Validated

Parameters: No condensation; check seal continuity, pack weight and moisture/water activity against the product release specification.

4. Financials and Unit economics

Production model
Use NFIC
Economics reference
UE-031
Pack size
250 g pack
Selling price
₹48.75
per pack
Variable cost to make one pack
₹26.29
Money left per pack
₹22.46
Before shared/fixed costs
Minimum production to cover costs
5 batches/month
Whole batches required
At 12 batches/month
₹51,945 profit/month
Money required to start
₹3.43 lakh

1. What will I produce and sell?

Raw material used in one batch (kg)
100.00
Finished product from one batch (kg)
80.25
Packs produced from one batch
321 packs
Selling price per pack
₹48.75
Planned production
12 batches/month
Packs available for sale/month
3,852 packs

Assumption: All saleable production is sold at the indicated selling price.

2. How much does one batch cost?

Variable costs — these increase when you produce more

Main raw material
₹5,000.00
Packaging material
₹1,640.00
Production/helper labour
₹1,050.00
Transport / logistics
₹450.00
Other production costs
₹300.00
Total variable cost per batch
₹8,440.00
Sales from one batch
₹15,648.75
321 packs × ₹48.75
Variable cost of one batch
₹8,440.00
Money left from one batch
₹7,208.75
Available to pay shared/fixed business costs and thereafter become profit.
Money left per pack
₹22.46
Before shared/fixed costs.

3. NFIC Facility Cost

The fixed/shared cost of using NFIC

NFIC facility charge
₹34,560/month
This includes:
  • use of NFIC machinery / shared facility
  • electricity, fuel and water
  • machine-operator cost

You do not need to separately add electricity or machine-operator cost.

4. Will I make a profit?

Monthly Income Statement
Sales income
₹1,87,785
Main raw material
₹60,000
Packaging
₹19,680
Production/helper labour
₹12,600
Transport / logistics
₹5,400
Other variable costs
₹3,600
Total variable costs
₹1,01,280
Money left after variable costs
₹86,505
NFIC fixed/shared facility cost
₹34,560
Estimated monthly profit
₹51,945
At 12 batches per month, estimated profit is ₹51,945 per month.

5. How many batches do I need to sell?

Below break-even
4 batches
Sales: ₹62,595
Loss: ₹5,725
BREAK-EVEN
5 batches
Sales: ₹78,244
Profit: ₹1,484
Above break-even
6 batches
Sales: ₹93,892
Profit: ₹8,692

You should produce and sell at least 5 batches per month to cover your costs.

Every additional batch sold after this adds approximately ₹7,209 before any other unforeseen expenses.

6. What happens if I produce more?

3 batches/month
₹12,934 loss
4 batches/month
₹5,725 loss
5 batches/month
₹1,484 profit ← Break-even crossed
6 batches/month
₹8,692 profit
7 batches/month
₹15,901 profit
12 batches/month
₹51,945 profit
15 batches/month
₹73,571 profit

More batches sold → the fixed/shared NFIC cost gets spread over more production → monthly profit improves.

7. How much money do I need before starting?

Startup & Working Capital Requirement
Money needed for day-to-day business
₹2,00,833
Other startup requirements
₹1,42,000
Total startup money required
₹3,42,833

Why is ₹2.01 lakh needed for day-to-day business?

Raw material, ingredients, packaging and other expenses have to be paid before all the money from customers comes back.

Working-capital cycle: approximately 39 days

Estimated total money required to start and operate the business ₹3.43 lakh

5. Branding, packaging & labelling

Packaging & labelling guidance

Pack size Retail: 500 g / 1 kg; catering: 5 kg.
Label copy status Ready
Packaging, labelling & compliance guidanceRead one box at a time.

Recommended packaging

  • Food-contact compliant, heat-sealed moisture-barrier pouch; use oxygen/light barrier where fat or flavour deteriorates (e.g. PET/metallised PET/PE). A zipper is optional, not a substitute for the first heat seal.

Economical / sustainable option

  • trial a recyclable PE- or PP-based mono-material pack only if its barrier and seals pass the same shelf-life test; confirm local collection. Plain paper alone is unsuitable.

Retail label essentials

  • Before printing, check the applicable rules/exemptions for: true food name; ingredients in descending order; additives; prescribed nutrition panel; veg/non-veg symbol; allergen statement; manufacturer/packer/brand-owner details and applicable FSSAI logo/licence number; net quantity; MRP inclusive of taxes and consumer-care details; batch/lot; manufacture/packing date and expiry/use-by as applicable; storage and preparation instructions.
  • Check Legal Metrology declarations, type size and unit-sale-price applicability for the final pack.
  • Mandatory information must be in English or Hindi; add clear Telugu for rural AP buyers.

Product name, origin & marketing claims

  • Put a simple descriptive food name beside the brand, with the actual variant and net quantity prominent.
  • Use honest local-origin/FPO statements backed by records.
  • Technology titles in column C are not approved marketing claims.
  • Do not imply CFTRI or FSSAI endorses the brand.
  • A QR recipe/traceability link is optional and cannot replace mandatory on-pack information.

Ingredients, allergens & cross-contact

  • Review every ingredient and processing aid/carrier, including compound seasonings and shared machinery.
  • Use the prescribed separate allergen statement when applicable; exemptions exist, including where the product itself is the allergen.
  • “May contain” follows a genuine cross-contact assessment and is not a substitute for segregation.
  • Milk is an allergen even in a vegetarian food; egg changes veg/non-veg status.
  • Do not assume millet/buckwheat foods are gluten-free.
  • FSSAI Labelling and Display Regulations, 2020; Version VIII, 09-Sep-2025. Primary regulatory baseline for retail/non-retail labels, allergens and ingredient-specific declarations.

Nutrition & claims

  • Nutrition values and claims must match the final recipe, legal calculation/testing basis and serving instructions.
  • Check permitted exemptions rather than printing invented values.

Shelf life, storage & after-opening

  • Best-before alone is not a universal substitute for expiry/use-by.
  • Establish shelf life on the real product/package using safety, sensory and relevant moisture/rancidity/culture tests under intended distribution conditions.
  • No expiry duration is supplied in this workbook.
  • Print a validated after-opening period where needed, not “consume soon” as the only control.

FSSAI licence, certifications & marks

  • Obtain the applicable FSSAI registration/licence and product-category permissions before food manufacture/sale; it is not a product-quality endorsement.
  • Ordinary food rows do not establish a separate mandatory certification merely because they use millet or local produce.
  • ISO 22000/HACCP certification, retail barcodes and trademark registration are not universal food-label prerequisites, though a buyer may require them.
  • Never display BIS/AGMARK/organic/vegan/+F/other marks without qualifying and obtaining the relevant authorisation where required.
  • Special-category rows explicitly need further review.

Preparation / use instructions

  • State the grain/plant species and form accurately; give washing/cooking directions where needed.

Regulatory references

  • FSSAI Packaging Regulations, 2018; Version V, 02-Apr-2025. Food-contact compliance and Schedule IV indicative package families. Specific pack sizes and sustainability trade-offs in D/E are recommendations, not prescribed by this source.

Other important guidance

  • Single-ingredient labelling exemptions must be checked against the actual product and any claims.
  • Store dry, protected from insects; close the opened pack.