How to Start a Profitable Lemonade Production Business

Do you want to start a lemonade production business? Here is a stepwise guide on starting a lemonade production company with a low investment.

Lemonade is a lemon-flavored drink in India commonly popular as ‘Nimboo Pani’. Additionally, lemonade production is a profitable and viable manufacturing opportunity in India. Generally, people consume lemonade as a cold soft drink, especially during the hot summer season. You can initiate a lemonade production unit on a small-scale basis.

7 Steps to Start a Lemonade Manufacturing Company

1. Is Lemonade Business Profitable? What is the Market Potential?

Consuming non-fizzy drinks is more beneficial in health aspects than carbonated drinks. It is one of the favorable soft drinks, is used by people of all ages in general and by the young generation in particular, and extensively during summer to quench the thirst and to get refreshed.

Changing lifestyle and spending habits coupled with increased disposable incomes supported growth in soft drinks in 2014. Consumers also started to move towards health and wellness products that are perceived as healthier.

According to Euromonitor, Soft drinks are likely to record further growth in off-trade volume terms over the forecast period. The majority of volume and value growth is likely to come from bottled water and juice, which are being embraced by consumers in urban and rural areas alike.

The per capita consumption of soft drinks in India is 6 bottles per annum. Delhi market has the highest per capita consumption in the country with 50 bottles per annum.

2. License & Permits

In starting lemonade, production entrepreneurs must register the business with ROC according to the desired ownership pattern of the company.

You need to obtain a Trade License and SSI Registration from the local authority. Soft drink industries are granted a license under the Fruit Products Order, 1955, which is a statutory Order issued under the Essential Commodities Act,1955, and is administered by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.

Under this Order, a license is granted to the manufacturers of fruit products covered under FPO, 1955. Compliance under the PFA Act is mandatory. For quality control and standard, BIS specification is a must in lemonade production.

At present GST Registration is a must.

3. Lemonade Manufacturing Unit Setup

In starting lemonade production, it is advisable to have a customized project report prior. It is tremendously beneficial in establishing any industry as such.

It will help you in selecting the right machinery, figuring out the financial requirement, and also in finance arrangements from the bank or any financial institution.

Before installing the machinery, create a layout plan for machines, raw material storage, finished goods storage, and space for administrative work. Required utility items are electricity and water.

4. Machine & Equipment

Find below some of the basic types of equipment required to open a lemonade manufacturing business:

• Tank with agitator, stainless steel
• The syrup-making vessel
• Filter, S.S. construction
• Syrup storage tank
• Water tank
• Ingredients storage tank
• Pipes and valves
• Pumps with drive motors
• Filling and sealing machine, automatic
• Water treatment equipment
• Miscellaneous ancillaries

5. Procure Raw Material

For lemonade production, the required raw materials are sugar, citric acid, flavor & essence, food color, sodium benzoate, etc. Apart from this, you need to make arrangements for packaging consumables. 200 ml, 600 ml, 1-liter, and 2-liter packaging is common in the packaging of this product. You can also go for small quantity pouch packaging such as 100 or 200 ml.

6. Lemonade Manufacturing Process

First of all, prepare the sugar syrup by dissolving sugar in water. Then mix the citric acid, preservatives, flavors, and other ingredients in a definite proportion by agitating. Stir the mixture until these ingredients disperse and you obtain a homogeneous mix.

Then, cool the mix to the desired temperature and dissolve the carbon dioxide gas in it. Finally, fill the diluted mix in pet bottles, seal it, and pack it in plastic crates.

7. Cost of Starting Lemonade Manufacturing Business

The cost of a small-scale lemonade or Nimbu Pani-making manufacturing business will cost you in the range of Rs. 5 Lacs to Rs. 10 Lacs depending on the factory rent cost, and the quality of machinery purchased. However, for a larger scale, the investment will be Rs. 25 Lacs onwards.