Green plantains are cheap by the case, and a pound of them fries down to about six ounces of chips, so a 3-ounce bag costs under a dollar in plantains, oil and salt. The rest is frying time and the bag. Bodegas and grocers buy at about half the retail price; one-ounce bags for vending and schools sell in volume. The plan turns on kitchen hours, oil, a delivery route, and the state's food manufacturing permit. In the example, a Miami plantain chip maker starts with $32,700, ends its first year about $14,400 ahead before the owner's pay, and makes about $2,600 a month at full speed. Below is each part of the plan, the first year month by month, the startup budget, and a free template.
The short version
- Describe the business in a paragraph: the chips, the stores, the goals.
- Cost each bag: plantains, oil and salt, the bag, frying time, the card fee.
- Plan sales by product: direct bags, grocer bags, one-ounce bags, party bags.
- Grocers and bodegas are the volume: deliver on a route.
- A licensed kitchen and the state food permit come first.
- Fry oil is changed on a schedule and hauled away.
- TaroStack makes each chip a recipe and each batch a lot. More below.
Part 1: the business description
Calle Ocho Chips, a made-up plantain chip maker in Miami, Florida, writes:
Calle Ocho Chips fries plantain chips, salted, garlic and sweet maduro, in a commercial kitchen in Miami, selling 3-ounce bags at markets and online, to bodegas and Latin grocers on a weekly route, one-ounce bags for vending and school snacks, and one-pound bags for parties. In its first year it aims to reach $11,300 of sales a month.
Part 2: what a bag costs
| Product | Plantains, oil and salt | Bag and label | Frying and packing | Card fee | Cost | Price | Cost share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plantain chips, 3 oz, direct | $0.66 | $0.30 | $0.50 | $0.12 | $1.58 | $4.00 | 39.5% |
| Same bag, to grocers | $0.66 | $0.30 | $0.50 | $1.46 | $2.25 | 64.9% | |
| Snack bag, 1 oz | $0.22 | $0.15 | $0.25 | $0.62 | $1.25 | 49.6% | |
| Party bag, 1 lb | $3.50 | $0.60 | $1.70 | $0.30 | $6.10 | $10.00 | 61.0% |
A 50-pound case of green plantains makes about 18 pounds of chips. Another fried snack sold to stores is in potato chips business plan.
Part 3: the kitchen, the route and the permit
Plantains are peeled and sliced on a mandoline slicer, fried in two batches a day, salted and bagged warm-free on cooling racks. A weekly route delivers to 40 bodegas and Latin grocers. Florida licenses food manufacturing through its agriculture department; the kitchen holds the permit, and the chips carry a full label with the allergens of the oil and seasonings. Labels are in food labeling requirements for small business.
Part 4: what each product earns
| Product | Price | Variable cost | Contribution | Margin | Units a month at full speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plantain chips, 3 oz, direct | $4.00 | $1.58 | $2.42 | 60.5% | 800 |
| Plantain chips, 3 oz, to grocers | $2.25 | $1.46 | $0.79 | 35.1% | 2,500 |
| Snack bag, 1 oz | $1.25 | $0.62 | $0.63 | 50.4% | 1,500 |
| Party bag, 1 lb | $10.00 | $6.10 | $3.90 | 39% | 60 |
At full speed the business sells $11,300 a month and keeps $5,090, 45%; direct bags bring $1,975 of it.
Part 5: the first year, month by month
Fixed costs are $2,450 every month: commercial kitchen rent ($1,600), delivery van fuel ($300), insurance ($200), oil hauling and supplies ($100), software ($50), and other costs ($200). Sales start at 35% of full speed:
| Month | Sales | Profit | Cash, year to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $3,955 | −$668 | −$668 |
| 2 | $4,744 | −$313 | −$981 |
| 3 | $5,533 | $43 | −$939 |
| 4 | $6,332 | $402 | −$537 |
| 5 | $7,121 | $757 | $220 |
| 6 | $7,910 | $1,113 | $1,333 |
| 7 | $8,699 | $1,469 | $2,802 |
| 8 | $9,488 | $1,824 | $4,626 |
| 9 | $10,170 | $2,131 | $6,757 |
| 10 | $10,735 | $2,386 | $9,143 |
| 11 | $11,300 | $2,640 | $11,783 |
| 12 | $11,300 | $2,640 | $14,423 |
The year's sales are $97,287, and the business ends it $14,423 ahead, before the owner's pay. It breaks even at about $5,440 of sales a month, in the third month. The lowest cash point, −$981 in month 2, is covered by the $6,000 of working cash with about $5,000 to spare. Grocer and bodega accounts build one route stop at a time; the plan starts at about a third of full speed and fills the route by the end of the year.
Part 6: the startup budget
| Item | Example |
|---|---|
| Used delivery van | $12,000 |
| Commercial fryer and slicer | $9,000 |
| First bags and labels | $2,500 |
| Branding | $1,500 |
| Bag sealer | $1,200 |
| Permits and licenses | $500 |
| Working cash | $6,000 |
| Total to start | $32,700 |
The $26,700 before working cash is earned back in about 10 months at full speed. Pricing a bag is in how to price popcorn, which works the same way.
Get the template
Download the plantain chips business plan workbook. Four sheets: your products, each with its price, variable cost and units a month at full speed; the first year, month by month, with sales ramping up, profit, cash, the first profitable month, the lowest cash point and whether the working cash covers it; your fixed costs; and the startup budget. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The plan uses one yield a case. Plantains that ripen too far before frying, oil that doubles in price, and a route stop that sells half as much change the month.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack makes each chip a recipe and each batch a lot, so its true cost follows the price of plantains and oil.
Recipes by weight. Each chip is a recipe by weight, with plantains and oil bought by the case or sack and used by the gram.
Each batch a lot. Each batch records the ingredient lots it used, gets its own lot and date, and counts what came out good.
Orders and the oldest first. Shop and market orders are sales orders, and the oldest lots go out first by default.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| What a chip costs this month | Worked out once | True cost from the batch |
| Which batch went to which shop | Not recorded | Lots on each order |
| Which stock goes out first | Whatever's in front | First-expired-first-out |
Recipes, batches, lots and orders are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.