How to make banana wine

Jul 29, 2020

The beauty of this is that the wine can be stored for as long as the producer wishes

Bananas can be used to produce fine wine.

Although the process of making wine is comparatively longer than juice, it is also rewarding. At the moment, a 60kg bunch of bananas costs sh8,000-sh12,000 in urban markets.

However, the same bunch can produce at least eight litres of fine wine, with each litre going for between sh15,000 and sh20,000.

Requirements

  • Bananas
  • Clean saucepans and jerrycans (depends on volume)
  • Bottles for packaging the wine-sh2,500 each
  • Airtight containers for helping the fermentation process
  • Fire place for boiling the juice

Store the bananas in a warm place, so that they ripen. Make sure that the storage area is free of pests and vermin that may dent the banana fingers.

Get ripened bananas and peel them, extract juice and pasteurise, then add yeast and, later, ferment to complete.

The process takes three to four months. Equipment used for small scale wine processing includes clean saucepans and jerrycans. Filter and bottle the product.

When you are through, you can seal the bottle and label.

Also, allow wine to mature further and when it is done, you can distribute to the users.

A litre of banana wine costs over sh15,000. The beauty of this is that the wine can be stored for as long as the producer wishes.

Good packaging key

It is important that you study the market requirements and get the right packaging materials for each market. To cast your market wider, package from the smallest unit-for, example 300ml, to at least three litres. That means that you have catered for everybody. The packages should also be well branded in attractive colours, bearing your product names and contacts.

Compiled by Joshua Kato (the editor Harvest Money) and Deo Mugisa (best farmer 2018, juice and wine produce)

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