Food Dehydration Process - Methods of Dehydrating

Dehydrated fruits, vegetables and meat items are getting famous among most of the people. Therefore these products create a huge market all around the world. Therefore it is good to know about dehydration process and various methods that can be used to dehydrate food products. 

Sun drying

This is the general practice since many years. Still in most of our home we used to dry things using this sun drying method. Sun drying is very effective in places with long periods of hot sun specially countries near to equator. Also anywhere with a minimum temperature of 28 – 30 C with less relative humidity is suitable. Normally foods take several days to dry thoroughly. Place on a mesh screen and cover with a second screen to protect from dirt and animals.

Air drying

Same as sun drying, air drying is also a common practice of dehydrating foods. The main difference is that air drying usually takes place in the shade. This is suitable for foods which need less heat to dry such as leaves and herbs.

Solar drying

An advance method of sun drying. Since there are no heaters or fans to circulate the air, solar drying uses zero electricity. Solar dryers work outdoors and can be designed as per the required size, and shape.

Solar Dryer Arrangement

Oven drying

Your home oven can be used to slowly dry food at temperatures around 60 C. Normally ovens are designed for higher temperature applications. However you can use this method for some home made quick dried foods. Make sure to maintain temperature around 60 C or below. Otherwise foods will be cooked instead of drying.

Dehydrators

With the market advancement of dehydrated food, special appliances were designed for commercial dehydration purpose. These dehydrators equipped with fans and elements to quickly and efficiently dry your food. These dehydrators can be powered with electricity, Gas, Kerosene, wood or any other method.

Dehydrating in a microwave oven

If you have a small amount of food to dehydrate, you can consider using your microwave set on ‘defrost’ to dry fruits and herbs. In general, microwaved fruits will take 20 to 40 minutes to dry fully, but keep checking on them so you don’t overdo it. 

 

If you are planning to make lot of dehydrated foods it is advisable to find a commercial dehydrator with more surface area as the amount of time take to dehydration process is anywhere from 5 to 14 hours. Properly packed, dehydrated fruits can last up to five years and vegetables up to ten. If you are going to consume non-meat items within a year, keep them in freezer bags or reusable storage bags with the air squeezed out. For long-term preservation, vacuum packing is the best.

Five Ways to Find Buyers for Agriculture Products

This is really a hard part in the business. Without buyers you do not have business. First of all you should decide whether you are going to target retails buyers/customers or Bulk buyers/customers. Depending on that, your strategies for persuading buyers will vary. Though there are many ways to find buyers, most common five methods of finding buyers are; 

1. Direct Negotiations with Shops and Supermarkets .
2. Through Social Media
3. E-commerce Websites/Platforms
4. Agriculture Exhibitions / Trade Fairs
5. Relevant State Departments

1. Direct Negotiations with Shops and Supermarkets. – You can use your personal contacts and negotiate with some shops and supermarkets to sell your products. Obviously you have to give them some commission. This is good for small scale businesses to target the retail market. In some supermarkets, they register suppliers in every year through their website or manual applications. You can register there and start business with them.

2. Through Social Media – Social media can be used easily to find buyers for your products. But this is also suitable for small scale businesses. You can start Facebook page, promote and sell your products through online delivery system. Also there are some Facebook groups and WhatsApp groups which create for import and export purpose of agriculture products. You can join these groups and catch some international buyers too. Anyway better to be careful in these groups since there are some fake buyers. 

3. E-commerce Websites/Platforms – We all are familiar with this kind of websites. There are websites for B2B and also for B2C. You can easily register as a supplier or seller and start selling your products. Normally all of these websites provide free registration. However that free registration may not be sufficient enough to attract buyers at the beginning. So you may have to get paid membership, or paid advertisements to attract some buyer. Top 5 eCommerce web sites suitable for agriculture products are;

i. Alibaba 
ii. Go4worldbusiness
iii. IndiaMart
iv. Globalsources
v. ebay

4. Agriculture Exhibitions / Trade Fairs – Participating for Agriculture Exhibitions and trade fairs expose your products to really interested buyers. This method is very effective than others. Find agriculture exhibitions near you or international exhibitions and you can have good chance to catch some real buyers. Normally in most of the countries there are many exhibitions per year. 

5. Relevant State Departments – If you are going for large scale businesses and export businesses, normally in each country there are some state departments such as Export Development Boards to help and guide. You can talk to them and get some information or links about international buyers. However if you are going to find buyers in this path, your products should comply with international standards and certificates since these are diplomatic links. 

These are the all common method you can use to find buyer for your agriculture products. Try these methods and make good business in future.