Client Profile:
The client, a women-led social enterprise founded by Prakriti Gautam, works with smallholder horticulture farmers, specializing in cold-storage, grading, and advanced dehydration techniques. They operate an agro-processing facility in Dhankuta Municipality, East Nepal, aiming to reduce post-harvest losses. Key figures: 150 tons of perishables processed annually, 1000+ direct farmer sources, 100+ rural jobs created annually. Their latest challenge is producing high-quality avocado powder for the food and cosmetic industries, focusing on optimizing their freeze-drying and dehydration processes to meet customer quality expectations.
Tasks:
- Improve the avocado freeze drying production
- Improve and minimize the bitter aftertaste of dehydrated Avocado
- Develop new dehydrated avocado products
- Do production trials and trainning for staff
- Advice on future production optimisations trials
Results:
Several trials were run to improve the quality of the freeze dried products, and new avocado mixtures. Staff were trained about avocados, grading and preparation for freeze drying. Suggestions were made for future improvement of quality and efficiency. Simple quality test methods were introduced and explained for rehydration of the finished product.
