MARKET OPPORTUNITY AND FEASIBILITY MODEL FOR COCONUT INDUSTRY IN ASIA-PACIFIC CONTEXT

Entering into any form of venture, primarily in crop industry, involved risks. Due to significant capital outlay, marketers used opportunity and feasibility studies to ascertain the viability of a business, determine the associated risks and consider its impact as well as to identify key factors to make the venture more successful. This paper proposed a model in assessing the feasibility and opportunity of a crop venture, particularly the coconut crop, using market analysis, demographic trends and changes and technical and financial evaluations. The model also specified the tools used for the assessment. The information from these assessments where further analyzed using SWOT and Porter’s Five Forces while insights derived from each phase form part of the recommendations. The model revealed that coconut processing was a technically feasible and financially viable venture in an emerging region such as Asia-Pacific with payback period of 2.8 years and demonstrated a 235% increase in net income by 5th year.