Running the numbers on a dried-fruit business

People ask us whether a dehydrator pays for itself. It can, and we would rather set out the arithmetic than answer with a number we cannot stand behind.

What we can tell you

• Fruit loses roughly seven-eighths of its weight. Eight kilograms of fresh mango becomes about one kilogram dried.

• A 12-layer cabinet holds roughly 4–6 kg of sliced fruit per batch; a run takes 8–12 hours for mango.

• The machines cost Rs 149,000 (12-layer), Rs 225,000 (20-layer) and Rs 399,000 (32-layer), with a 12-month warranty on the element, fan and controller.

• Dried fruit stored properly keeps 10–12 months, so a July glut becomes stock you can still sell in December.

What we cannot tell you

What a kilogram of dried mango sells for where you are. It varies by city, by season, by whether you are selling loose in a bazaar or packaged to a shop, and it is the number the whole calculation turns on. Anyone quoting you a national figure is guessing.

Go and find out before you buy a machine, not after. Ask two buyers what they pay and what they expect the product to look like.

The costs people forget

• Electricity for an 8–12 hour run, at your tariff, per batch.

• Packaging that is actually airtight — the difference between a 12-month product and a 3-month one.

• Wastage while you learn. The first few batches teach you thickness and timing.

• Your own time, per batch, including slicing.

The seasonal case

The strongest argument for a cabinet is not margin per kilogram, it is time-shifting. Fruit is cheapest when there is too much of it and unsellable a month later. Drying converts a glut at seasonal prices into stock that keeps for most of a year, needs no refrigeration, and takes an eighth of the space.

That is a real advantage and it is also the whole business. If you cannot buy fruit cheaply in season, the machine is solving a problem you do not have.