Yoghurt Making Level 3

About this module

Level 2 made good yoghurt in a controlled kitchen. Level 3 builds a business that shops, schools and regulators can trust, batch after batch, all year round.

Who it is for. People who have finished Yoghurt Making Level 2, or who already run a small yoghurt business and can show the same skills. In Ghana's framework, National Proficiency II leads to National Certificate I, which covers complex work with minimum supervision. This module sits at about that level.

CTVET status. No CTVET yoghurt curriculum was found. This module is not a CTVET curriculum.

Bridge from Level 2: what you already know

Measuring SNF, fat, pH and titratable acidity; standardising with powder
A written GMP and HACCP plan with CCPs, limits and records
DVS and bulk starters; phage; fermentation curves; two-stage cooling; fault-finding
Greek, labneh, skyr-style, high-protein, probiotic, drinking, fruit, tiger nut and frozen yoghurts; kefir, lassi and ayran
Ghana standards (GS 1121 and others), the Codex standard, FDA registration, full labels, shelf-life testing
Equipment for a 50–200 litre unit, buyers, wholesale pricing and accessibility

Level 2 left out homogenisers, fillers and plant layout; milk collection and supplier contracts; a laboratory and microbiology tests; long-life yoghurt; portfolio planning; and running the business itself. Level 3 covers all of these. For general bookkeeping and business skills, see the Hub's Money Skills Level 2 and Entrepreneurial Thinking Level 2.

How the module works

Each unit has learning outcomes, performance criteria, the range and the evidence your assessor needs. You are judged Competent or Not Yet Competent. About 70% of the time is practical, following CTVET's Oil Palm programme split of about 30% school and 70% workplace.

Safety first

Hot liquids and steam: pasteurisers and jacketed pots run at 85–95 °C. Use lids, long gloves and two people to move full vessels.
Chemicals: cleaning alkalis and acids burn skin and eyes. Wear gloves and eye protection; never mix chlorine sanitiser with acid.
Machines: homogenisers run at high pressure (200–250 bar). Only trained staff operate or open them.
Electricity and water: keep sockets high and dry; use earth-leakage protection in wet rooms.
Food safety: never culture raw milk; never sell a batch that did not reach pH 4.6 or below.

Unit 1 · Plan and run a small yoghurt plant

A plant is a kitchen designed so that milk only moves one way: from dirty to clean, from raw to finished, from warm to cold.

Competency standard

Learning outcome	Performance criteria — the trainee…
1.1 Plan the process flow	draws the full process from milk reception to cold store
1.2 Plan layout and utilities	lays out rooms, equipment, water, power and drains for one-way flow
1.3 Run the line	operates and records each process step to set limits
1.4 Plan cooling	chooses cooling for raw milk and finished product

Range. A 500–2,000 litre a day plan; one production day in a working dairy or the training unit. Evidence. Process flow diagram; layout drawing; production records.

The industrial process flow

Step	What happens	Typical setting
1 Reception	Test, filter and cool milk	Reject failures; cool to about 10 °C or below
2 Standardise	Adjust fat and solids	Add skim powder or protein, or evaporate 10–20%
3 Deaerate	Remove air	About 65 °C
4 Homogenise	Break fat into tiny drops	200–250 bar at 65–70 °C
5 Heat	Kill germs; set whey proteins	90–95 °C for about 5 minutes
6 Cool and inoculate	Add culture	40–45 °C
7a Stirred	Ferment in tank	42–43 °C, 4–5 h, to pH 4.2–4.5; cool to 15–22 °C; empty tank in about 30 min
7b Set	Fill cups first, then ferment	About 3–3.5 h to pH 4.5; no disturbance in the last 2–2.5 h
8 Fruit and fill	Add fruit preparation; fill and seal	Fruit usually under 10%; stabiliser 0.1–0.5%
9 Cold store	Chill and hold	About 5 °C; shelf life 21–30 days below 8 °C on hygienic lines

The risk of contamination is highest at fruit addition and filling: use hygienic fillers and filtered air. An East African training guide gives 82–85 °C for 30 minutes or 90–95 °C for 3–5 minutes, and a 2–3% bulk starter reaching pH 4.5–4.6 in 3–4 hours.

A small dairy's process-control sheet

A small-dairy guide sets a control point at every step:

Step	Control
Milk reception	Filter; cool to 10 °C; check smell, taste and density; methylene blue test
Pasteurise	Hold time and temperature; phosphatase test to confirm
Cool	To fermentation temperature within about 20 minutes
Ferment	Starter active and weighed; hold temperature and time
Fill	Check minimum net weight per pot
Seal	Check every seal is properly formed
Label	Correct label, correctly placed
Refrigerate	1–4 °C

The same guide rates yoghurt a "medium risk" food in the cold chain. A 2024 dairy research study named four CCPs: raw milk receipt, pasteurisation, packaging and storage.

Long-life yoghurt

Option	Process	Keeps	Label
Thermised	Heated 60–70 °C for a few seconds after fermentation	1–2 months chilled	Loses "live" status
Heat-treated and aseptic	75–110 °C for 5–20 s, aseptic filling, stabilisers	4–12 months at room temperature	"Heat Treated Fermented Milk"

In the US, heat-treated yoghurt must say "does not contain live and active cultures". Under Codex, preservatives are allowed only in flavoured products heat-treated after fermentation. Long-life yoghurt needs aseptic equipment and is a factory product, not a kitchen one.

Layout for one-way flow

Raw milk reception and lab at one end; finished-goods cold store and dispatch at the other
Separate rooms or zones for raw milk, processing, filling and packing, dry stores, cleaning chemicals and changing
Hand-wash points at each zone entrance; foot baths where needed
Smooth washable walls, floors sloped to covered drains, screened windows
Safe water supply with storage and treatment; hot water for cleaning
Steady power with generator or solar back-up for the cold store and incubation
Whey and waste-water handling planned before you build

Cooling raw milk and product

Milk's natural defences keep bacteria low for about 3–4 hours after milking; cool to about 4 °C within that time. Cooling centres suit areas with many small producers.
Cooling to 15–20 °C keeps evening milk overnight; standing cans in cool running water helps.
The lactoperoxidase system is approved by Codex for milk where cooling is not possible, but it should be used only by trained collection-centre staff and "should not replace pasteurization".
A solar ice-bank milk chiller in rural India cut lifetime costs by about 27.6% against a normal chiller, but needed back-up power in the rainy season.
Evaporative clay-pot coolers work best in dry air and poorly in humid places: weak in coastal Takoradi, better in the north during the harmattan.

What a small dairy costs

A small dairy for 15,000 litres a month in Mali (2005) cost about US$22,531: building about US$13,845 and equipment about US$8,100 (a second-hand 600 litre tank, a 200 litre an hour pasteuriser, a generator, milk cans, a freezer and a mini-lab), with running costs about US$586 a month. These figures are old and from another country: use them as a checklist, then get Ghana quotes. In Ghana, a liquid packing and sealing machine was advertised at about GH¢59,800.

Plan the flow

Draw a layout for a 1,000 litre a day plant making set and stirred yoghurt. Show the rooms, the path of milk, the path of workers, and where whey and waste water go.

Production day

Spend a production day in a working dairy or the training unit.
Record every step against the process-control sheet.
Draw the process flow diagram and the layout for your own plant.

Utilities

Find out the cost of water, power and back-up power for your planned site for one month.

Unit 2 · Build a year-round milk supply

A yoghurt plant is only as good, and only as busy, as its milk supply.

Competency standard

Learning outcome	Performance criteria — the trainee…
2.1 Run milk reception	runs platform tests and accepts or rejects milk with records
2.2 Develop suppliers	trains and contracts farmers or traders on hygiene and residues
2.3 Plan for seasons	plans fresh and powdered milk use across the year
2.4 Understand cooperative models	explains how dairy cooperatives organise collection and pay

Range. One collection exercise; one supplier agreement; a 12-month milk plan. Evidence. Reception records; agreement; milk plan.

Platform tests at reception

Test	What it finds
Clot on boiling	Milk at about pH 5.8 or below (souring)
Alcohol test (68%)	Milk at about pH 6.4 or below, about 0.21–0.23% acidity
Lactometer	Added water
Smell and look	Off smells, dirt, colostrum, mastitis

Use aluminium or stainless steel milk cans; non-food plastic and jerry cans are banned in the East African training scheme, and copper causes off-flavours.
Do not use colostrum (the first milk after calving) or milk from cows with mastitis.
Methylene blue or resazurin tests estimate the germ load; the phosphatase test proves pasteurisation.
Factory plans test every tanker for antibiotics.

Ghana's milk supply

In Wa Municipality, 69% of milk came in the rainy season and 31% in the dry season; milking was by hand in the kraal with no training, and milk passed through many middlemen.
Raw milk from Accra and Kumasi carried Staphylococcus, Klebsiella, Yersinia and E. coli because traders pooled it without pasteurising.
At Lewuniyiri, Fulbe herders supplied raw milk to newly trained women's and youth groups: working with herders is a model.

Supplier development

A written agreement: hygiene, clean cans, no colostrum, no milk from treated cows during the withdrawal period, delivery times, test rules and price
Pay by quality: a better price for milk that passes every test and arrives cool
Train suppliers on clean milking, hand washing and clean cans
Record every delivery: supplier, volume, time, temperature, test results, accepted or rejected
Visit farms; never punish honesty about a treated cow

Cooperative models from abroad

Amul (India) uses a three-tier "Anand pattern": village dairy cooperative societies, district unions and a state marketing federation. Founded in 1946, it has about 3.6 million producers, most delivering 1–2 litres a day, and aims to give producers the largest share of what the customer pays.
Smallholders produce over 80% of milk in developing countries, and organised smallholder systems can compete with large dairies.
Most small processors learn on the job with no formal training, which raises risk.

Planning for the seasons

Season	Milk plan
Rainy (high fresh supply)	Use more fresh milk; standardise with less powder; make Greek, labneh and frozen lines
Dry (low fresh supply)	Switch more of the mix to whole milk powder; keep products consistent with standardisation
All year	Keep a powder buffer stock, stored cool and dry

Whole milk powder was advertised in 25 kg bags at about GH¢2,000–2,500 in October 2026.

Milk plan

Your plant needs 600 litres a day. In the rainy season farmers can supply 500 litres a day; in the dry season 150. Skim or whole milk powder is mixed at about 125 g per litre (an assumption for this exercise). How many 25 kg bags of powder do you need per 30-day month in each season?

Collection exercise

Run platform tests on milk from at least three suppliers.
Record results and decisions.
Draft a supplier agreement and a 12-month milk plan.

Herder visit

Visit a herd or milk collection point. Report on milking hygiene, cans, cooling and price.

Unit 3 · Laboratory, quality assurance and standards

A label is a promise. Your laboratory and your records are how you keep it.

Competency standard

Learning outcome	Performance criteria — the trainee…
3.1 Run routine tests	runs chemical and simple microbiological tests and records them
3.2 Meet composition standards	checks products against Codex, Ghana and buyer specifications
3.3 Verify and improve the safety system	verifies HACCP, traces batches and plans a recall
3.4 Make honest claims	applies rules on "live cultures", "probiotic" and health claims

Range. A month of test records for one product line; one mock recall. Evidence. Lab book; specification sheet; recall report.

Tests to run

Stage	Test	Purpose
Raw milk	Clot on boiling, alcohol, lactometer, methylene blue or resazurin, antibiotics	Accept or reject
Process	Phosphatase test	Proves the milk was heated
Process	pH and titratable acidity	Fermentation end point; acidity standard
Product	Starter count	Live cultures at least 10 million per gram
Product	Coliforms; yeasts and moulds	Hygiene after heating

Microbiology needs a proper laboratory. CSIR-Food Research Institute offers microbiological and chemical analysis. Send samples regularly, not just for registration.

Composition standards compared

Rule	Codex (international)	United States
Cultures	S. thermophilus and L. bulgaricus	Same two
Milk protein	At least 2.7%	(not set; milk solids-non-fat at least 8.25%)
Fat	Under 15%	At least 3.25% milkfat for "yoghurt"
Acidity	At least 0.6% lactic acid	pH 4.6 or below within 24 h of filling
Live cultures	At least 10 million per gram to the end of shelf life	"Live and active cultures" claim: at least 10 million per gram when made
Named extra organism	At least 1 million per gram	(not set)
Concentrated (Greek)	At least 5.6% protein	No legal definition of "Greek"
Heat-treated after fermentation	Named "Heat Treated Fermented Milk"	"Does not contain live and active cultures"

In France, "yaourt" may be used only for products fermented by the two classic cultures alone. Older Indian standards for dahi, reported by FAO in 1990, limited yeasts and moulds to 100 per gram and coliforms to 10 per gram and required a negative phosphatase test; check current Indian rules before quoting them. In Ghana, use GS 1121:2016 and any buyer's specification.

Two seals, two numbers. The US rule allows "contains live and active cultures" at 10 million cells per gram at manufacture; an industry seal scheme has been described as needing 100 million per gram. Do not print any seal or claim you have not been granted.

Probiotic and health claims

WHO and FAO define probiotics as "live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host".
In the EU, the food safety authority has turned down probiotic health-claim applications, and "probiotic" on packs is treated as a health claim.
In the US, a yoghurt maker paid a US$21 million settlement over misleading probiotic claims.
The EU does allow yoghurt to claim it helps digest lactose if it contains at least 100 million live starter bacteria per gram.
In Ghana, any claim on a label needs evidence for FDA registration.

Rule for your business: state the cultures and counts you can prove; make no "cures", "boosts immunity" or "probiotic" health claim without FDA approval.

Traceability and recall

Every pack carries a batch code linked to milk suppliers, powder lot, culture lot, process records and test results
Keep a dispatch record: which batch went to which buyer
Write a recall plan: who decides, who calls buyers, how stock is collected, how the FDA is told
Run a mock recall once a year: trace one batch back to milk and forward to buyers within a few hours
Keep records at least six years

The FDA fined an importer GH¢2,500 for importing expired milk: regulators act on dairy safety.

Pass or fail?

Batch 47 Greek-style yoghurt: protein 6.2%, titratable acidity 0.92%, starter count 3 million per gram on day 14 of a 21-day shelf life, yeasts and moulds well within your specification. Does it meet Codex? What do you change?

Lab month

Run raw milk, process and product tests for one product line for a month.
Write a product specification sheet.
Send one sample for microbiology.
Run a mock recall.

Standard check

Ask GSA for the limits in GS 1121:2016 and compare them with Codex.

Unit 4 · Manage a product range and innovate

A good range covers different buyers, seasons and prices without making the plant too complicated.

Competency standard

Learning outcome	Performance criteria — the trainee…
4.1 Plan a product range	chooses products by margin, demand, season and plant fit
4.2 Cost each product	works out cost, yield and margin for each line
4.3 Develop a new product	runs a product trial from idea to shelf-life test
4.4 Reduce waste	turns acid whey and returns into value

Range. At least five product lines; one new product trial. Evidence. Range plan; costings; trial report.

The full family

Product	Key method points	Notes for the range
Set yoghurt	Ferment in the cup	Preferred for natural yoghurt and fruit-on-the-bottom
Stirred yoghurt	Ferment in a tank, stir, add fruit	Most flexible
Drinking yoghurt	Total solids up to about 11%; stabiliser for low-fat	Easy to sell cold
Greek-style strained	Cloth, separator or ultrafiltration	About 3 kg milk per kg; high price
Labneh	Salted, strained longer	Long life as balls in oil
Skyr-style	Skim milk, strained	High protein, low fat
Lassi, ayran	Thinned yoghurt, sweet or salted	40% fermented milk rule
Kefir	Grains with yeasts, room temperature	Make apart from yoghurt
Frozen yoghurt	Culture, age, freeze at about −6 to −2 °C while whipping	Live cultures must survive
Plant-based	Tiger nut, soy, coconut	Name carefully; stabilisers needed
Long-life	Heat-treated after fermentation	Factory only

Greek-style at plant scale

In a laboratory study using a centrifuge, 100 g of yoghurt gave about 30.5–33 g of strained yoghurt with 8.6–9.6% protein, and 67–69.5 g of acid whey; holding the yoghurt 24 hours at 4 °C before straining raised the yield by about 8%. Factories either strain finished yoghurt with a separator or concentrate the milk by ultrafiltration first.

Acid whey: from waste to product

Acid whey has a pH of about 4.4–4.6 with lactose, lactic acid, some protein and calcium. It is a strong pollutant that uses up the oxygen in streams. Uses include animal feed, fertiliser, probiotic and fruit drinks, and protein recovery; biogas is possible but held back by the acid and the cost. Plan its use before you scale Greek yoghurt.

Goat and sheep milk

Goat milk gives a thinner yoghurt and sheep milk a thicker one, so goat yoghurt usually needs extra milk powder to firm the gel (test and record). Traditional Greek yoghurt is made from sheep milk. Under Codex, other milks may be used, but the label must declare the milk if it is not cow milk.

Plant-based market

A study of 52 unflavoured plant yoghurt alternatives in Europe found soy (38%) and coconut (21%) the most common bases; only soy matched dairy for protein; and 8 of 10 coconut products had no added calcium. Vegan yoghurt alternatives are a fast-growing market in Europe. In Ghana, tiger nut (Level 2) is a local base with a Ghanaian study behind it.

Sugar and health trends

Sugar use in yoghurt has fallen since 2016 after WHO and government anti-obesity drives.
A UK survey found fruit yoghurts had a median of about 12 g sugar per 100 g, and fewer than 9% of yoghurts were "low sugar".
Greek yoghurt held about half the US yoghurt market in 2015.
Do not quote market growth figures without a source.

Packaging choices

Cups with foil or plastic lids, sachets and bags, glass and coated cartons are all used for yoghurt. Studies have measured small amounts of styrene moving from polystyrene cups into yoghurt; ask your supplier for food-contact certificates.

Range margins (all figures are examples)

Product	Cost per unit	Price per unit	Units a week
Plain 250 g cup	GH¢4.50	GH¢8	1,500
Fruit 250 g cup	GH¢5.20	GH¢9	1,200
Greek-style 250 g	GH¢8.00	GH¢15	300
Drinking yoghurt 500 mL	GH¢5.00	GH¢10	600

Work out the weekly contribution (price minus cost, times units) for each product. Which gives the most? Which has the best margin per unit?

New product trial

Choose a new product (for example a low-sugar mango lassi, a labneh, or a tiger nut cultured dessert).
Make three trial batches; record pH, texture and cost.
Run a 10-person taste panel.
Start a shelf-life test and write a draft label.

Whey buyer

Agree in writing with a farmer, feed mill or composter to take your acid whey.

Unit 5 · Establish your yoghurt business

A yoghurt business needs a registration, an FDA permit and registered products before it needs a supermarket.

Competency standard

Learning outcome	Performance criteria — the trainee…
5.1 Choose a legal form	compares business types and registers one
5.2 Meet tax, food and permit duties	lists ORC, GRA, FDA, GSA and Assembly duties
5.3 Employ fairly	applies SSNIT, PAYE and Labour Act basics

Range. Own business plan. Evidence. Registration checklist with costs; payroll sheet.

Choose a legal form

Type	ORC fee (2026)	Notes
Business name (sole proprietor)	GH¢130; GH¢70 renewal	You carry all debts
Partnership	GH¢270; GH¢100 renewal	2–20 partners
Company limited by shares	GH¢585 + capital duty	For a plant with investors and loans
Company limited by guarantee	GH¢490	For a community or social enterprise

Companies file annual returns (GH¢175 a year) with financial statements. Women's groups and herder groups may prefer a cooperative, which has its own legal framework.

Tax

Your Ghana Card number is your tax number.
Sole traders with turnover from GH¢20,001 to GH¢750,000 may pay 3% of turnover under the Modified Taxation Scheme.
Companies pay 25%, or 18.5% for manufacturers in a regional capital such as Takoradi. A yoghurt plant is a manufacturer.
VAT is 20% in total from 2026; a business selling goods registers once turnover passes GH¢750,000.
Big buyers may withhold 3% of what they pay you for goods.

Food and product permits

Duty	Who	Notes
Food hygiene permit for premises	FDA	Yearly; displayed; enforced from February 2026
Product registration	FDA	Each product and flavour; certificate of analysis; 2023 fees GH¢100–500 by scale, listed per year
Progressive licensing	FDA	For businesses with 1–5 production workers; pink, yellow, green certificates
Certification mark	GSA	Locally manufactured products from an industrial process
Business operating permit	Assembly	Fees in the STMA fee-fixing resolution
Health screening of staff	Assembly / health service	Licences refused to vendors with typhoid
Barcodes	GS1 Ghana	For supermarkets
Insurance	Licensed insurer	Check at the NIC

Employing staff

Pay at least GH¢21.77 a day.
SSNIT: worker 5.5% plus employer 13%, paid by the 14th; register workers on hiring.
PAYE: the first GH¢588 a month is tax-free; pay by the 15th.
Written contract for six months or more; 15 working days' paid leave; 12 weeks' maternity leave.
Every food handler needs health screening and hygiene training.

Payroll

Three workers earn GH¢1,200 a month basic each. Work out each worker's SSNIT deduction, the employer's SSNIT, and the total SSNIT you pay by the 14th.

Accessibility

Persons with physical, visual and hearing impairments have been trained in yoghurt making in Ghana, and groups including people with physical disabilities run a yoghurt brand at Lewuniyiri. Ghana's Disability Act bans discrimination, though access to public facilities is still poor. In your plant: seated filling and labelling stations, level floors with no steps between zones, visual and sound alarms on the cold store, colour and tactile coding on chemicals, and lab, sales and record-keeping roles open to all.

Register

Choose a legal form and explain why.
Make a checklist of every registration, permit and insurance with costs and dates.
Work out one month's payroll for three workers.

Office visits

Visit or call the FDA Western Regional office and a GEA Business Advisory Centre. Note what they told you.

Unit 6 · Bookkeeping and accounting for a yoghurt business

Yoghurt is a short-life product. If you do not count stock, spoilage and money owed, profit disappears without anyone seeing it.

Competency standard

Learning outcome	Performance criteria — the trainee…
6.1 Keep daily books	keeps cash, MoMo/bank, production, sales, stock and spoilage records
6.2 Produce statements	prepares a monthly profit and loss and balance sheet
6.3 Control cash and costs	reconciles MoMo and bank, works out break-even and forecasts cash

Range. One month of real or example records. Evidence. Books; statements; reconciliation; break-even; forecast.

The records

Record	What it shows
Milk and ingredients book	Litres and kilograms in, supplier, price, paid or owed
Batch record	Batch number, quantities, process and test results
Sales book	Units sold, buyer, price, paid or owed
Stock sheet	Finished stock by product and best-before date
Spoilage and returns log	Units thrown away or returned, and why
Cash book and MoMo book	Every cedi in and out
Asset register	Pots, freezers, sealers and their depreciation

Keep records for at least 6 years.

Assets = liabilities + owner's equity. Depreciation = (cost − end value) ÷ years of use. Small businesses' accounts follow IFRS for SMEs, with a new edition from 2027.

Worked example (all figures are examples)

Esi's yoghurt unit, October

Esi puts in GH¢30,000.
Buys a 100 litre jacketed pot and a chest freezer for GH¢18,000 (5 years, no end value).
Sells 3,000 cups for cash and MoMo at GH¢8 = GH¢24,000.
A supermarket takes 1,000 cups at GH¢7 = GH¢7,000, to pay in 30 days.
Milk powder and culture GH¢9,000; cups, lids and labels GH¢7,000; fruit and sugar GH¢1,500; gas and power GH¢1,200.
Two workers GH¢2,400; rent GH¢800.
At month-end, 300 finished cups are in stock, valued at their cost of GH¢5 each (GH¢1,500).
Esi takes GH¢2,000 for herself (drawings).

Work out: (1) cash at the end of October; (2) net profit; (3) the balance sheet.

Spoilage, returns and stock

Count stock every day by best-before date; sell oldest first ("first expired, first out").
Record every cup thrown away or returned and the reason (power cut, leak, late sale).
Spoilage is a cost: if 5% of cups are lost, your real cost per sold cup rises by about 5%.
Agree in writing with shops who pays for returns.

Break-even

How many cups to break even?

Monthly fixed costs: rent GH¢800, wages GH¢2,400, depreciation GH¢300. Each cup costs GH¢4.50 in milk, culture, cup, fruit and power and sells for GH¢8. How many cups a month must you sell to cover fixed costs?

Reconciliation and forecast

Match MoMo and bank books to statements each month. Milk powder costs more of your cash in the dry season, and school terms change sales: forecast cash month by month and keep a reserve.

Software and the calendar

Use a spreadsheet, or a free plan such as Zoho Books or Wave.

When	What
Daily	Stock count, sales and cash books
14th	SSNIT
15th	PAYE and withholding tax
Last working day	VAT (if registered)
Quarterly	Provisional tax (companies)
Within 4 months of year-end	Annual income tax return
Yearly	FDA hygiene permit; ORC renewal or annual return; Assembly permit
Yearly or every 3 years (ask the FDA)	FDA product registration renewal

Month-end close

Keep milk, batch, sales, stock, spoilage and cash books for one month.
Reconcile MoMo and bank.
Prepare a profit and loss and a balance sheet.
Work out break-even and a six-month cash forecast.

Cost per cup

Work out your full cost per cup for each product, including spoilage.

Unit 7 · Grow and sustain the business

Ghana's biggest yoghurt brands grew on steady quality, a cold chain and many sellers.

Competency standard

Learning outcome	Performance criteria — the trainee…
7.1 Find finance and buyers	identifies finance, support and large buyers
7.2 Build distribution	plans a cold distribution network
7.3 Keep quality and ethics	keeps quality records and honest claims
7.4 Plan and pitch	presents a one-page plan with a 12-month cash forecast

Range. Own business plan. Evidence. Business plan; distribution plan; cash forecast; pitch.

Lessons from Ghanaian brands

Emigoh (Yomi): home kitchen in 2005; now over 70 staff, more than 2,500 retailers and an automated plant at Pantang; it names quality control "from sourcing to production" as its difference. It refreshed its range with new flavours at 20 years.
Zeno's: since 1993; Ghana's first commercial Greek yoghurt; yoghurt bars in Accra malls. Its founder named staff training and raising money to expand as her biggest challenges.
FanMilk: about 800 agents, 21 key distributors and nearly 7,000 vendors who bring in over 80% of revenue; it is expanding its cold chain. Its micro-vendors use solar freezers.

Finance and support

The Ghana Enterprises Agency has Business Advisory Centres in Takoradi and nearby districts.
GIRSAL guarantees help agribusinesses get bank loans; Ghana EXIM supports SMEs and exporters.
The 2026 Budget funds the Women's Development Bank and enterprise programmes. The Bank of Ghana policy rate was 14%.

Distribution

Your own cold van or cool boxes with ice packs for nearby buyers
Vendor or kiosk network with solar or chest freezers (the FanMilk model)
Distributors for shops and supermarkets, with written terms on returns and payment
Daily temperature records from plant to shelf

Location settings that give good returns

Near a milk source and a road to your buyers
Steady water and power, with back-up
An industrial or approved site where the Assembly allows food manufacturing
Space to add a cold room, a whey tank and more lines
In Takoradi: manufacturers in a regional capital pay 18.5% company tax rather than 25%

Business ideas and ingenuity

A yoghurt bar or café with parfaits and smoothies
Low-sugar and unsweetened lines for health-conscious buyers
Greek-style and skyr-style high-protein cups for gyms
School-size cups and a school supply contract
Private-label yoghurt for a supermarket or hotel
Tiger nut cultured products for dairy-free buyers
Whey drinks or whey sold as animal feed
Training other yoghurt makers

Market yourself

Show your FDA registration number, lab results and clean plant.
Tell your story: local milk, local jobs, women and persons with disabilities employed.
Sample new flavours; ask customers to vote on the next one.
Be honest about sugar and claims.

Ethics

Never sell a batch that failed its tests. Never claim "Greek", "probiotic", "live cultures", "registered" or "certified" without the evidence or document. Pay suppliers on time and fairly for quality milk.

Capstone

Present to a panel: a one-page business plan, a distribution plan and a 12-month cash forecast that shows the dry-season switch to milk powder.

Pitch

Write a one-page plan.
Build a 12-month cash forecast.
Pitch to a panel for ten minutes and answer questions.

Buyer meeting

Meet one supermarket, school or distributor and ask what volume, price and terms they would accept.

Glossary

Term	Meaning
Aseptic filling	Filling in sterile conditions so heat-treated products keep without a fridge
Break-even	The sales level where income just covers costs
Colostrum	The first milk after calving; not for yoghurt
Deaerate	Remove air from milk before processing
Homogenise	Break fat into tiny drops under high pressure
Lactoperoxidase system	A milk preservation method for trained collection centres only
Mastitis	Udder infection; milk not for yoghurt
Phosphatase test	Shows whether milk has been properly heated
Platform tests	Quick tests on milk at reception
Recall	Bringing back unsafe products from buyers
Thermised	Heated gently after fermentation for longer life
Traceability	Linking each pack to its milk, ingredients and records
Ultrafiltration	Filtering milk or yoghurt through a membrane to concentrate it

Logbook

Unit 1: process flow diagram; layout; production-day records; utilities costs
Unit 2: reception records; supplier agreement; 12-month milk plan; herder visit report
Unit 3: lab book; specification sheet; microbiology result; mock recall report
Unit 4: range plan and costings; new product trial; whey agreement
Unit 5: registration checklist with costs; payroll sheet; office visit notes
Unit 6: books for one month; statements; reconciliation; break-even; forecast
Unit 7: business plan; distribution plan; 12-month cash forecast; pitch feedback
Every homework, dated

Self-check quiz

Put these in order: homogenise, heat, reception, inoculate, standardise, deaerate.
Where in the process is contamination risk highest?
What must heat-treated yoghurt be called under Codex?
Within how long after milking should raw milk be cooled, and why?
What does the phosphatase test show?
Name two kinds of milk that must never be used for yoghurt.
What is the minimum live starter count under Codex, and until when?
Why must you be careful printing "probiotic" on a label?
What does Amul's three-tier model consist of?
Which company tax rate applies to a yoghurt manufacturer in Takoradi?
Monthly fixed costs are GH¢4,200 and each cup gives GH¢3.50 contribution. What is the break-even?
Name three things a 12-month yoghurt cash forecast must show.