TIGER HOUSE LIMITED

Tiger nut is one of the most nutritious cash crops but one of the least valued-added crops in Africa. We are committed to adding value to tiger nut, one of the most consumed snacks in Ghana, by processing them into wholesome meal products (milk drink & biscuit) and household product (spray starch) as a healthy and affordable alternative for low-income earners and vulnerable populations reducing malnutrition and food wastage while making farming lucrative. With our innovation we are able to generate three different products from every single nut we use; nothing goes out as waste creating huge economic returns for local farmers while reducing waste. Our products are naturally processed to suit the taste of health-conscious people with a high amount of fibre for energy and satisfaction.

Every year, tiger nut farmers in Ghana experience huge losses because of the low patronage of tiger nuts. While people appreciate the nutritious and healthy benefit of the plant-based product, the raw state of the tiger nut is not presented in hygienic conditions making it lose its market value drastically. This industry typically led by women has been suffocating due to low patronage leaving farmers and their families in dire poverty. 

Meanwhile, access to an affordable food protein and plant-based product for individuals living under the poverty line is almost impossible contributing to the very low nutritional status of the population in low-income communities. In addition, Ghana is one of the developing countries experiencing a double burden of malnutrition prevalent, especially among children.

Our innovation is adding value to raw Tiger nut by processing the nut into tiger nut milk drink and biscuit. The starch (residue), is processed to make laundry Starch spray creating economic value for tiger nut farmers who are mostly women, and also providing affordable food protein alternative and plant-based products to reduce malnutrition and promote health in low-income communities. Our approach covers all bottom necks in the agriculture and food processing supply chain. We source tiger nuts from smallholder farmers at a very competitive rate providing economic value to our smallholder farmers. This provides them with incentives to increase crop yield with the boost in confidence of reliable demand for their produce. 

The tiger nuts sourced are taken through a series of processes adding value in a sustainable way. This innovation maximizes the potential benefit of the plant-based product by creating healthy food and household products to feed some of the poorest individuals in low-income communities. Our approach is environmentally sustainable and climate-conscious. We ensure that nothing arising from the processing of the tiger nut goes waste. Economic value is created from every bi-product during processing.  Our biscuits are packed in a low density rubber-sealed paper bag. 

Our solution addresses food wastage which serves smallholder farmers by empowering them to increase their crop yield and income. Several approaches implemented to increase crop yield do not entirely address  sustainable consumption leading to food wastage limiting the incomes of smallholder farmers even though crop yield is increased. In Ghana, about 45% percent of food produced is not consumed which is equivalent to over $6 billion worth of food. So there is a clear wastage of food affecting incomes of smallholder farmers. 

Our approach, on the other hand, covers all bottom necks in the agriculture and food processing supply chain. We source tiger nuts from smallholder farmers at a very competitive rate providing economic value to our smallholder farmers. This provides them with incentives to increase crop yield with the boost in confidence of reliable demand for their produce. This approach empowers the farmers and their families allowing them to earn to cater to the basic needs of their families. 

 This innovation maximises potential benefit of the plant-based product by creating healthy food and household products to feed some of the poorest individuals in low-income communities. Other ways do not go through a robust value addition like our approach does. 

Our innovation provides food products that are suitable for diverse segments of the market and individuals from different demographics impacting large populations. Our products can be accessed by the poor and affluent, by the young and old and by healthy conscious individuals. One serving of tiger biscuit has a whopping 10 grams of fibre, providing you with almost half of your daily fibre requirement needs. This is suitable for children and the working population who have high fibre needs.

Over the years different people have adopted different approaches in solving these problems in parts but the comprehensiveness of our approach is what makes ours an innovation. Our approach addresses challenges at every stage of the production cycle with a business model that smoothens all edges at the pre-production, production, and post-production stages. 

Our main operation is to process and distribute our tiger nut products. However, our approach takes into cognizance the welfare of farmers and the need for us to educate and facilitate their operations to help improve the quality and quantity of theirs.

We adapt waste generation technology that processes these natural and fresh nuts into three different products. The liquid is processed into tiger nut milk, the chaff into tiger nut biscuit, and starch into laundry spray which makes our approach innovative, unique and environmentally sustainable. No part of the nut is wasted.

Our production activities employ plant-based milk extraction technologies coupled with circular economy principles. We adopt circular economy principles in our manufacturing through a technology called the creation of industrial symbiosis - that is we have created a cluster of production lines where there is an exchange of bye-products from one production line to another. With this industrial engineering, the milk is separated from the chaff after it is crushed in a miller. Each of these components of the tiger nuts ie. milk and chaff enters a different production line to be processed into a milk drink and a biscuit respectively.

 As the production of the milk proceeds, it goes through a refinery stage where starch is extracted. The starch also is channeled into a different processing line for the production of Tiger Tut laundry Starch Spray. With these combined methods and technologies no waste is generated from our production.

Provide evidence that this technology works.

Our solution utilisers different widely used and accepted technologies(in whole and parts). However the complexity and robustness of our something we have not sited anywhere. We use machines such as Milling machines, separators, pasteurizers. Homogenizers etc. Most of our machines are locally fabricated based on modern technologies as shown https://www.tessadm.com/?gclid... 

>span class="s2">https://www.britannica.com/science/starch.

Our solution utilisers different widely used and accepted technologies(in whole and parts). However the complexity and robustness of our something we have not sited anywhere. We use machines such as Milling machines, separators, pasteurisers. Homogenisers etc. Most of our machines are locally fabricated based on modern technologies as shown https://www.tessadm.com/?gclid... 

>span class="s2">https://www.britannica.com/science/starch.

Our intended outcome is to reduce food wastage through increased consumption as a result of value addition, reduce malnutrition by providing healthy and affordable plant-based products, and increasing income of smallholder farmers through increasing crop yield and consistent off taking. In pursuing these outcomes, the short changes we anticipate include researching on how value can be added to tiger nuts, establishing processes and acquiring infrastructure that allows us to add value to create products that can increase consumption of the tiger nuts. The medium-term changes are to test the market with our products, increase consumption of tiger nut products, and source the tiger nuts cultivated by the local smallholder farmers. We also intend to explore how to expand production which can provide certainty to the tiger nut farmers which ensures that the is a constant demand for their yield encouraging them to increase their yield while increasing their revenues. In the long term, we hope to partner with the Ghana Education Service through the school feeding program to ensure that our products are available for children in low-income communities who are affected by malnutrition and whose families live under the $2 poverty line. We hope that by embarking on this journey, there will be a huge demand for tiger nut, increasing revenues of smallholder farmers, reducing food wastage through increased consumption, while improving health of individuals.

Our outcomes will directly affect smallholder farmers, malnourished children, individuals in low-income communities, the aged, health-conscious adults, and indirectly affect communities, families, and the economy We intend to achieve the outcome and output sourcing tiger nuts from smallholder farmers, processing the tiger nuts into 3 products - tiger nut milk, biscuit, and spray starch. This makes use of the entire nut where nothing goes waste. We then market the products to increase the consumption of the product and seek partnerships to increase our quantity of production.

We currently serve over 74,000 customers every year. Our innovation serves a vast number of beneficiaries from varied populations or groups and has the potential of being scaled to improve the lives of millions of people. The nutrient content of our innovation makes it suitable and highly useful for all categories of individuals including children, youth, adults and the aged. Besides imparting farmers and their families directly, the potential of our innovation being scaled cannot be disputed.

Looking at the growing demand for our products we have potential to scale to about 1 million consumers of our products next year when funding is obtained and 10 million in five years.We intend to scale our innovation/product primarily through schools by making accessible to school children and students across different levels in the academic trajectory. The first area will be to partner with the World Food Program and the Government of Ghana to use our product as one of the meals for the Ghana School Feeding Program. 

The drink and biscuits are supplied in peri-urban areas and rural settlements in urban areas especially people in the low-income bracket. 

According to the Ghana Statistical Service (2017), the prevalence of malnutrition is high in Ghana, only a few people can afford imported food commodities like milk. About 6.8 million Ghanaians, representing 23.4 percent of the population, could not afford to spend more than GH¢4.82—approximately US$1—a day. 

1. To serve displaced people with the products as a social responsibility 

2. To be a household name in Africa and beyond for leading innovative and value-added Agric products.

3. To have contributed massively to eradicating hunger.

4. To have contributed massively in making farming lucrative.

Our current barrier is the short shelf life our our milk drink. Currently our milk is refrigerated and can only stay on the shelf with refrigeration for 2 months. This sometimes causes spoilage of our products in stock and shops. This defeats the very UN definition of Food Spoilage we intend to prevent.

As we intend to scale, a key challenge that may arise could be availability of tiger nut, our main material for production. At the moment, more than 90 tonnes of tiger nuts are produced in the country. This will be enough supply for our target customers in Ghana, however might not be enough when we have to scale beyond Ghana through exports and when categories of additional tiger nut products are added to our product line as Tiger House. Also, we anticipate a challenge in meeting regulatory standards and compliance measures put in place by other jurisdictions which we intend to export.

With the required funding, we will be able to acquire Ultra High Temperature and aseptic Technologies to increase the shelf-life of the milk to about a year without refrigeration. 

We are currently partnering with a collective group and association of tiger nut farmers to have access to their entire output. We are hoping that we will pre-finance them to expand their farms and grow their yield while providing them with skills and knowledge in using best farming practices. 

We hope to do this while we put in attempts to raise funding to finance our personal tiger nut farms as our primary source of tiger nuts for processing into our innovative products. This will ensure that there is more than enough supply to support our intention to scale. 

We also anticipate some challenges with scaling up through a partnership with the Ghana School Feeding Program. Report issued by the World Food Program, it takes about 3-4 months for the Government of Ghana to disburse payments to caterers and vendors. Based on the finding, we anticipate that we will have to supply our products for an entire term without payment as payments are made per quarter yearly. Due to this, we need to accumulate enough working capital to supply to the school. Finally, Considering our little experience in exports of products we intend to overcome this challenge by seeking knowledge through mentorship from successful farmers and companies who have been exporting its products to understand how we can meet all regulations.

Full-time staff - 2

Part-time staff-4

Distributor-4

With over 15 years of combined experience as professionals in food processing, finance, and technology industries, the team is young and vibrant with the right skills and competence to execute the solution.  

Team

Prince Oppong

Co-Founder/CEO & Head of Production | Expertise: Food Science & Laboratory Technology

With degree in Laboratory Technology, Prince has experienceas a research analyst with the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research and also gained experience by managing an aseptic laboratory at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (drug manufacturing unit).

Sampare Owusu Banahene

Co-Founder/Chief Operations Officer | Quality Assurance & Laboratory Technology:

Sampare brings on board experience with higher standard Laboratory and Research firms like Food Research Institute under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and Ghana Standards Authority where he acquired several experiences in meeting standards of regulations aside the analytical skills acquired.

Derick Omari

Business Development Manager | Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Research & Technology

With over 5 years of experience having led and worked with over 8 start-ups, Derick brings on board relevant management and business development expertise to help direct the company towards its vision.

Daniel Opoku Pipim

Chief Finance Officer | Accounting, Tax & Finance

Daniel brings on board vast experience in accounting from providing accounting consultancy services with Danelks Consultancy, DanDes Mushroom Farm and Agro Kings, Daniel prepares accurate financial statements and assists the firm in meeting its tax obligations. With this key role, he joins in making strategic and informed decisions.