LITE Sappalmax

LITE’s first three years of operations shall be dedicated to the exploitation of a raw material resource that despite its massive abundance is currently completely unused by industry. This is palm sap, the liquid exudate of the tropical palm. Our calculations indicate that at least 2 million kilolitres of sap go to waste every year in Ghana’s palm plantations. Palm sap will be used in the preparation of a non-alcoholic beverage to be known as sappalmax. The product shall be distributed through a range of microfranchises in the small-scale drinks manufacturing sector. Franchisees will receive a package including a leased/rented micro-bottling unit, technical support services, and a marketing and branding umbrella.
Even though palm sap is deliciously aromatic, highly rich in nutrients, and has no need for much processing, thus lowering risks of contamination, it is completely unutilised because of technical challenges. The use of carefully designed, high value, technologies allows us to maintain price leadership while maximising quality and nutritional value – the key unmet demands at both the low- and high-price ends of the market according to our market research. Our distribution model is likewise highly innovative. We are tapping into a varied and well-populated sales network that has failed to realise its full potential in the absence of the right incentives and because of capacity shortfalls.
Our relationship with our suppliers - the two main palm plantations in Ghana - is exclusive. They have a resource that is currently going completely to waste, that only our technology can harvest.
Our microfranchising relationship with our distributors - cottage beverage industries - is similarly a win-win situation. They have built an extensive distribution network but do not have the means to utilise it to its full capacity. By supplying them a quality, highly-nutritious, drink base that they can package and retail for half what major beverage producers sell their products, and by giving them a marketing and branding umbrella, we can turn their sales network into a highly effective means of capturing 1% of the ~240 million dollar Ghanaian beverage market in 5 years.

Our micro-bottling, micro-franchising approach means that we are in essence introducing a variant of vending machines in Ghana (also virtually unique) except that in this case the micro-bottling machines allow the vendor to add value through packaging and labelling. We lease/rent out our micro-bottlers to existing drink retailers and producers who are drawn to the benefits of adding value. Our machines are semi-automated and hygiene-enforcing because packagers do not come into contact with sappalmax, our product.

Additionally, we are selling our sap-based drink, sappalmax, at a price half that of unhealthy carbonated drinks, and about a third of the price of healthy fruit-based drinks (which are expensive due to the lack of preservation technologies to allow the use of local produce, and the resultant high proportion of imported ingredients). We can do this because, once the high technical barrier posed by the low shelf-life of conventionally harvested sap is overcome, sap is abundant, cheap because unused, and in need of very little processing. Our selling points are thus three: low cost, highly nutritious and sugar-free.

Thus we will outperform our competitors on both supply-side management and customer service delivery.

We brand our products by targeting aspirational urban dweller - regardless of class - who lives an active lifestyle in a hot country, must thus replenish fluids regularly but is concerned that fizzy drinks are unhealthy and fruit juices cost too much. Brand promotion shall be by means of a high association of sappalmax with clubs, societies, market associations, drivers' unions and other social networks that are highly effective though usually ignored by upper class brands, in a country where the main source of information-circulation is still word of mouth. Some radio advertising too will complement.

LITE uses a vacuum suction sap harvesting device that considerably improve on present sap collection methods by preventing premature fermentation caused by microbial contamination. This device is a world first and allows the commercial utilisation of sap in non-alcoholic beverage production, at costs far below that of alternative technologies, for the first time ever since sap has been used in Africa and Asia for alcohol (palm wine) production.

I am currently completing a PhD in Electrical Engineering at the Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, NH. As a graduate of Whitman College, I have an impressive background in IT consulting and technology adaptation towards social ends. I am teaming up with colleagues with extensive experience in the beverage sector. My sigma-six training in quality management and control, and in the use of engineering skills in industrial processes will come in very handy as I oversee the implementation of the technology components of this enterprise.

As a Schweitzer Fellow in New Hampshire, USA, I have obtained massive exposure in the use of technology to empower the underprivileged, which my return to Ghana will put to the test.

My experience in managing the early phases of a start-up social venture aiming to use technology protocols to fight the menace of counterfeit drugs in West Africa these past couple of months have similarly prepared me for many of the ups and downs of business incubation and incorporation.

The biggest measurable impact of Lite Sappalmax will be considerable increases in the earnings of cottage industrialists, over short-term as well as long-term horizons, and sustained viability of their means of livelihood. We project a 300% increase in our clients’ turnover upon switching to the Sappalmax franchise by year 3. Net incomes will also increase by not less than 200%.

Resource conservation is the next greatest impact. Sappalmax is to be produced from a raw material that currently goes completely to waste. Each and every successful Sappalmax franchise therefore represents a genuine addition to Ghana’s wealth output. By using non-invasive and environmental-friendly technologies, LITE will be leading the way in sustainable industry not only in Ghana but also throughout West Africa.
Promoting the use of local raw materials whenever this helps to cut down on imports does not only mean better balance of payments for a debt-ridden country like Ghana but also savings in shipping fuel and CO2 emissions.

Next in order of magnitude of impact is health. Fizzy soft drinks should be consumed in moderation, when this does not happen due to lack of alternatives, dental and obesity conditions can spread in society. Sappalmax is naturally low in sugar and contains no artificial additives.

Given the high costs of dental treatment in Ghana, should we assume that our year 3 sales are due to regular patrons of Sappalmax who drink about a litre a day, we will have 13,000 loyal customers. If we were to further assume, extrapolating from recent statements by the former Director of the Ghana Health Service, that 4% of these, had they been patrons of a carbonated competitor of Sappalmax, will have developed dental problems, a conservative cost estimate of $260,000 can be made as the national health savings due to Sappalmax introduction. This is despite discounting obesity and other conditions caused by excessive sugar intake.