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We've spent about $50k getting going, but we are on a farm so have options others don't. Our equipment was $10k, the rest went into refrigerated containers we t
by primax 4y ago
We've spent about $50k getting going, but we are on a farm so have options others don't. Our equipment was $10k, the rest went into refrigerated containers we turned into a kitchen grade dehydration space, prep room, coolroom and storage.
I'm fortunate to have a sister in the food retailing business who was our first customer. We started dehydrating lime slices to use up the excess limes from our yard and control fruit fly, and found we couldn't keep up with demand. From there it's gone really well.
We are in Australia though, YMMV.
- markdown 4y ago> rest went into refrigerated containers we turned into a kitchen grade dehydration space, prep room, coolroom and storage. I need to do something like this (I'm in Fiji). Do you happen to have any pics or videos showing your dehydrator and prep room? I assume you used Reefer containers. BTW what does dehydrating limes have to do with fruit fly control?
- primax 4y agoI'm currently on holiday and don't have good photos on hand, but email me via leigh@stillard.com and I'll send you some when I get home. Fallen fruit can be a reservoir for fruit fly, so I'm forever picking up fruit to bury it in compost so fruit fly can't get to it, or grow in it. By removing fallen fruit I'm not keeping fruit fly around to get into my orchard and ruin 50-70k of fruit. It's only a little orchard but we value add it by dehydration and add 75% margin on top. It adds up!
- markdown 4y agoAwesome, will do!
- prawn 4y agoI'm also in Australia. When there is a fruit fly outbreak, it is taken very seriously. There are restrictions on what fruit can be taken to schools, across suburb zones. There are teams of people that doorknock and put up traps on trees or get permission to go into your backyard and inspect dropped fruit, cutting it to look for fruit fly, etc. They wear hazmat-type garb and it all looks a bit dramatic for the suburbs. Even without an outbreak, there are restrictions on buying fruit and taking it into a particular agricultural zone. Heavy fines for bringing fruit over the state border (my mother copped a $300 fine for forgetting she had mandarins in the car boot on a roadtrip).