Garri and Cassava Processing Lines

Most garri lines are sold as a complete set. The part that decides whether yours works is the grater and the press, and those are the two units suppliers cut cost on quietly.

Description

A cassava processing line takes tubers through washing and peeling, grating, dewatering under press, sieving, then frying or drying. Garri needs the fryer. Cassava flour and starch take the same front end and a different back end, which is worth knowing if you might diversify later.

Capacity is quoted in fresh tubers going in. Fresh cassava is roughly 65-70% water by weight, so the garri coming out is a fraction of that input figure. A line rated at 1 ton of tubers an hour is not a line producing 1 ton of garri an hour, and the difference matters when you're modelling revenue.

Cassava also has to be processed fast after harvest. It starts deteriorating within a couple of days. So the real constraint on a line this size isn't usually the machine. It's whether you can get tubers to it quickly enough and consistently enough to keep it fed.

What the capacity figure leaves out

Tubers in, not garri out. Fresh cassava is mostly water. Rate your line on tuber input, then work out garri yield from there. Roughly a fifth to a quarter of input weight, depending on variety and how hard you press.

The press does the heavy lifting. Dewatering is what decides your final moisture and your frying time. An underspecified press slows the whole line down and costs you fuel at the fryer every single day.

Cassava won't wait. Tubers deteriorate within days of harvest. Your supply logistics constrain this business more than machine capacity does, and a bigger line makes that worse, not better.

Fryer fuel is a running cost nobody quotes. Ask what the fryer burns per hour, and on what. Over a year that number matters more to your margin than the difference between two quotes on the machine.

Specification

These figures decide throughput and what your garri actually costs to make. We confirm them against written supplier data before quoting.

Capacity	Tons of fresh tubers per hour or per day. Input, not output. Garri yield runs roughly 20-25% of tuber weight.
Line configuration	Which units are included: washer, peeler, grater, press, sieve, fryer, dryer. Quotes vary a lot here and it's the main reason two prices look different.
Power supply	380V three-phase for a full line, 50Hz. Matches our grid frequency without correction.
Fryer type and fuel	Gas, firewood or electric, and consumption per hour. This is a daily running cost, so it's worth more attention than it usually gets.
Press type	Hydraulic or screw. Decides dewatering efficiency, which decides frying time and fuel.
Contact materials	Stainless steel on food-contact surfaces. Relevant for NAFDAC registration if you're selling packaged garri.

We do not publish prices, because the landed figure depends on the specification, the Customs valuation and the exchange rate on the day you pay.

Minimum order

One line. Buying a complete matched set from one supplier beats assembling units from three, because throughput matching between mismatched machines is a problem you'll be solving forever.

Scale up once your tuber supply proves it can keep the first line busy.

What decides the right one

Tuber supply first. This is the whole business. A line sized beyond what your farms and buyers can deliver is capital sitting idle, and cassava won't sit in storage waiting for you.

Then the press, because it sets your moisture and therefore your fuel bill. This is where we'd spend money if the budget is tight.

Then the fryer and its fuel. Gas costs more per unit than firewood but gives you consistency, and consistency is what gets you into the retail packaged market. Depends which market you're actually chasing.

Common questions

What's the minimum order

One line. Most processors start with a single line matched to their tuber supply.

How much garri from a ton of cassava

Roughly 200-250kg, depending on variety, dryness and how hard you press. We'll give you a realistic figure for your setup, not a best case.

Can the same line make cassava flour or starch

The front end is shared. The back end differs. If flour or starch is in your plans, tell us now and we'll spec a line that can take the extra units later.

What does NAFDAC need

Stainless food-contact surfaces and a facility that passes inspection. We can spec the machine to that standard, though the registration itself is your process to run.

How is it shipped and installed

Containerised, with installation and commissioning support so your first production run happens with guidance.

Tell us your cassava supply

How many tons of tubers you can get a week, where from, and whether you're selling loose garri or packaged. We'll tell you what line that is, what it lands at in Naira with every line itemised, and what your realistic daily output looks like.

Costs you nothing and commits you to nothing.

Ask on WhatsApp Send it through the form