Food dehydrators for Ivoire Organics in Côte d’Ivoire
Our Africa manager Kuemkwong Siemefo had an important engagement at Ivoire Organics in Côte d’Ivoire this February: the installation of three more food dehydrators for drying locally produced organic mangos in Korhogo to the north of the country. This has allowed Ivoire Organics to expand its drying production, started at the beginning of 2015, and to now produce in a more effective and salable manner.
Of course, Kuemkwong Siemefo did not assemble the dehydrators himself; this was done by appropriately trained specialists. We would have liked to have found a local specialist, but experts with appropriate know-how were difficult to find in the country. Therefore, Kuemkwong Siemefo asked the man who also designed the food dehydrators: Roshan Anton Fernando from Sri Lanka, a specialist in dehydrators and cutting devices, which he designs and assembles in his small workshop in the capital city of Colombo.
He travelled from Sri Lanka with two colleagues in order to install the dehydrators in Korhogo, Côte d’Ivoire. That is what we call true mutual cooperation, since all involved benefitted from this project: Roshan Anton Fernando, who can better support his big family thanks to the order from BioTropic; the producers’ association of Ivoire Organics gains a clear competitive edge by reinforcing its technology; and last but not least, future gourmands will also benefit from being able to indulge in dried pineapples and mangos from Côte d’Ivoire.
The food dehydrators could not have arrived at a better time, as the season for mangos begins in mid-April in Côte d’Ivoire. “The time of harvest could even be shifted slightly”, adds Kuemkwong Siemefo, “as there is currently a period of drought in Côte d’Ivoire, which has lasted for an unbelievably long 5 months. But we will still be able to make ends meet.”
The harvested mangos will be peeled and processed by hand in the local processing plant in Korhogo. The fruit slices will then be dried in the dehydrator for approximately 13 hours. Slice for slice – an unaltered and natural indulgence.
Text: Visnja Malesic
Pictures: BioTropic GmbH, Ravindrananda Perera Galpathage, Ivoire Organics
As of: March 2016
He travelled from Sri Lanka with two colleagues in order to install the dehydrators in Korhogo, Côte d’Ivoire. That is what we call true mutual cooperation, since all involved benefitted from this project: Roshan Anton Fernando, who can better support his big family thanks to the order from BioTropic; the producers’ association of Ivoire Organics gains a clear competitive edge by reinforcing its technology; and last but not least, future gourmands will also benefit from being able to indulge in dried pineapples and mangos from Côte d’Ivoire.
The food dehydrators could not have arrived at a better time, as the season for mangos begins in mid-April in Côte d’Ivoire. “The time of harvest could even be shifted slightly”, adds Kuemkwong Siemefo, “as there is currently a period of drought in Côte d’Ivoire, which has lasted for an unbelievably long 5 months. But we will still be able to make ends meet.”
The harvested mangos will be peeled and processed by hand in the local processing plant in Korhogo. The fruit slices will then be dried in the dehydrator for approximately 13 hours. Slice for slice – an unaltered and natural indulgence.
Text: Visnja Malesic
Pictures: BioTropic GmbH, Ravindrananda Perera Galpathage, Ivoire Organics
As of: March 2016
Tags: Pineapple (GB), Ivory Coast (GB), Ivoire Organics (GB), Kuemkwong Siemefo (GB), Mangos (GB), PPP (GB), Sri Lanka (GB)
