Trucks are bringing in the last peaches and BC pears to the drying racks of Cape Dried Fruit where peeled and unpeeled peaches, apricots, pears, tomatoes, mangoes, prunes, and raisins are dehydrated out in the sun or in ovens. When the temperatures cool towards early autumn, the drying season comes to an end.
Drying racks in Montagu, Klein-Karoo, Western Cape
Snack of choice
Dried fruit has become many people's healthy snack of choice, a boon to Cape Dried Fruit, established in 1991 as Montagu Droëvrugte (Dried Fruit) after the small town whose economy has been well-served by the laborious process of preparing fruit for drying. Fortuitously, orders for their products have surged since Covid.
"We farm, dry and we package our own dried fruit ensuring quality control from the orchard to our packaging," says Martin Reynolds, marketing director of Cape Dried Fruit. Their orchards produce 15,500 tonnes of fresh fruit for them per year, firm-fleshed fruit picked at the pinnacle of ripeness. "Good drying yields mean that this produces 2,200 tonnes of dried fruit. Product allocation between national and international markets are well planned and strategically executed."
Exports include Australia, Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Reynolds remarks that growth is currently focused on improved production of dried mango at their affiliated drying facility in the Levubu Valley of Limpopo.
"Dried tomato continues to impress, together with other value-added products like fruit rolls, fruit leathers, and minced fruit sweets. A raisin packing facility is also planned in the not too distant future."
"We pick a choice-grade fruit to dry"
South African Royal apricots are halved and pitted, with a tart taste due to lower brix as opposed to Turkish varieties.
"For the first time in a few years, we've had a strong crop of peaches, nectarines, and apricots. We only farm for the drying sector, and we pick a choice-grade fruit to dry. Brix content and size of fresh fruit are of utmost importance."
Cape Dried Fruit grows, dries, and packs 2,200 tonnes of dried fruit annually
They pack dried fruit into various retail brands, while the Cape Dried brand is stocked by independent stores. The newest outlet is the recently opened shop in The Grove shopping center, Pretoria, stocking all of their lines.
A portion of the fruit comes in from external growers. Uncertainty around South Africa's fruit canning industry could induce farmers to bring more fruit for drying, but it's complicated. Drying is an exceedingly labor-intensive process, bound by space constraints too.
"Drying is very expensive and it's very difficult to manage higher volumes at short notice. The amount of available labor, the knives… it's quite unlike a juice factory. You can't ramp up your output overnight."
For this reason, the volumes produced in South Africa remain largely stable, while the appetite picks up: the dried fruit industry finds itself in a good space.
For more information:
Martin Reynolds
Cape Dried Fruits
Tel: +27 23 614 2682
Email: martin@capedriedfruit.com
https://capedry.com/