You have probably seen it in your neighbor’s garden, maybe in your own garden too, all the apples lying on the ground and rotting away.
Sometimes it is pure laziness that means no one picks the apples, but sometimes it may not be possible to eat or store more apples. Tragic to see so many fine fruits disappearing to no avail.
Similar sights can be seen all over the world. In Mozambique in Africa, we saw lots of clementines and oranges lying on the ground where they were wasted. This at the same time as there is malnutrition in the country.
Even if someone were to take care of the oranges, they cannot be stored for very long, a lot of them rot away even from what someone has taken care of.
If you are lucky during your trip to Bhutan, you may see roofs filled with chilies. They give the roof a lovely red color.
But even these beloved fruits are destroyed to an excessive extent. Rain, insects, birds and other things destroy large parts of the fruits that have been picked every year.
One way to solve this could be to dry the food in a dryer, preferably heated by the sun’s rays. The low water content in the dried fruit means that mold and bacteria cannot utilize the fruit.
The dried fruit can be stored for a long time, without the need for refrigeration, salt, vacuum or other technology.
There will probably always be a market for dried chili in Bhutan. After all, chili is included in almost every dish prepared there.
But what about dried fruits such as apples and bananas? Even if there is dried fruit, the market may not exist? So how do you create demand for dried fruit?
Actually, we don’t really know the answer to the question yet, but we have ideas that we want to test.
Our work in Bhutan is now about continuing the development of sun dryers, working to make fruit and vegetables as nutritious as possible and developing sustainable business model for dried fruit.
Our hope is that during your next trip to Bhutan you will be able to buy dried fruit pieces for your hike, drive or other occasion.
Ideally you should be able to buy them from the local farmer, or perhaps outside the parking lot at Tigers Nest. A much-needed energy boost during your hike up the mountain.
Ideally we want you to be able to buy dried fruit pieces, chilies, spices from Bhutan in your local grocery store here at home in Sweden.
But there are many steps to get there, but who knows, maybe one day.
If you want to know more or if you have comments or ideas about marketing, export or other things, please contact our research group.
Henrik.Davidsson@EBD.LTH.se
