ENGINEERING ECONOMY STUDIES ON THE PRODUCTION OF NONALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES FROM SOME TROPICAL CROPS

An engineering economic assessment was carried out on the production o f non-alcoholic beverages from some tropical crops (breadfruit, potato , plantain and sweet cassava). The production had earlier been establi shed in a previous study in our laboratory. A small-scale production p lant was proposed for the commercial exploitation of the research resu lts. The facilities for the production technology were identified and their cost estimates were obtained from equipment fabricators and supp liers. The economic study showed positive net present values (NPV) at 7.5% and 100% capacity utilisation. This indicates that the research r esult may lead to a successful innovation if appropriate funding, mana gement and business strategy are employed for its exploitation. (C) 19 97 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.