Freeze-dried fruits from Germany for the whole world
Paradiesfrucht from Saxony-Anhalt produces the fruity ingredients for muesli, tea and chocolate worldwide
From 22 to 25 November, the Investment and Marketing Corporation Saxony-Anhalt (IMG) will be presenting the German federal state of Saxony-Anhalt as an attractive and innovative location for the food industry at the Food Matters conference trade fair in London. Here, more than 600 exhibitors from all over the world discuss the interlinks between nutrition trends and health. One of Saxony-Anhalt’s innovative companies which will also be presenting itself at the trade fair is Paradiesfrucht GmbH.
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It is almost silent in the room where fresh fruit becomes dried fruit. Every now and then there is a loud clicking noise. The huge tunnel in which that happens is reminiscent of recumbent milk tanks in a dairy. Fruits are freeze-dried in the tunnel. The process of sublimation, in which the ice in the frozen fruits evaporates, takes ten to fourteen hours – at minus 18 degrees and in a vacuum. Freeze-dried fruits, which are non-perishable for two to three years and retain their full taste, are what remain.
Production manager Thomas Grothe crosses the tunnel room with long steps. In the next hall, employees in cotton wool jacks push trolleys full with sheets of dried fruits. It smells of raspberries and bilberries. Fruits such as apple or physalis, strawberries or pineapples are processed here. About 2,000 barrels leave the company every year: this is about 14,000 tonnes of wet fruits. But also fish, meat and herbs – anything that can be freeze-dried. Paradiesfrucht has already received several awards, most recently the Enterprise Award of the Association of East German Savings Banks (OSV).
Paradiesfrucht is on a course for growth. The production facilities at the company in the town of Salzwedel in the north of Saxony-Anhalt have been working to capacity for years. Business is booming. “There are not many companies which serve this market”, says managing director Bernd Wiesner. “You need capital and know-how.” The process is technically demanding. This must be imagined as if you are hanging out laundry in the winter. At first the fruits freeze stiff, and then they still eventually dry, says Bernd Wiesner in comparing freeze-dried fruit and frozen laundry.
The company offers a total package. The concept not only encompasses processing and sales, but also services for customers which are exclusively business clients. This includes all well-known major manufacturers of cereals, tea and chocolate products. The procurement managers in Salzwedel know when their clients need supplies again. Then they offer them new deliveries.
Freeze-dried fruits from Saxony-Anhalt are found in muesli mixtures or in tea just as well as in chocolate. “Chocolate manufacturers can no longer do without us”, reveals Bernd Wiesner. Pieces of fruit from Paradiesfrucht are found in the products of all major manufacturers. “But we also develop our own crunchy products, such as small cubes or small plates of fruit for the market in the USA.”
Paradiesfrucht originally derived from the business with fruit concentrates. This business is a market with fierce competition, says Bernd Wiesner. The enterprise in Lower Saxony managed by the Jahncke family sold the concentrate business in 2007 and focussed on freeze-drying. It is long since known that this was the right decision.
Paradiesfrucht opted for the Saxony-Anhalt location in 2004 because here there were subsidies, well-trained workers and the prospect of motorway access. And ultimately the proximity to Lower Saxony was a decisive factor. Paradiesfrucht received plenty of support from the city and the administrative district during the settlement process.
The company started with 24 employees; in the meantime there are 180 employees. Paradiesfrucht intends to grow more by the end of the year. The plant was originally conceived for one-fifth of current production. And this is to be expanded even more, because the appetite of clients for products from Paradiesfrucht is large. So production capacity had to be added this year.
More than half of all “paradise fruits” are exported. “All over the world”, summarises Bernd Wiesner, adding “to the USA, Australia, Asia and South Africa as well as throughout Europe. We have our own offices in China, Kiev, Manchester, Boston, San Francisco and Moscow.”
Saxony-Anhalt at Food Matters, London: www.invest-in-saxony-anhalt.com/food-matters-2016
Read more about Saxony-Anhalt's food industry: www.invest-in-saxony-anhalt.com/food-industry
Contact:
Investment and Marketing Corporation Saxony-Anhalt
The economic development agency of the German federal state of Saxony-Anhalt
Tanja Ruedinger
Project Manager International Press & PR
Tel.: 0049 391 5689976
Fax: 0049 391 5689950
E-Mail: tanja.ruedinger@img-sachsen-anhalt
Internet: www.invest-in-saxony-anhalt.com
Background: Investment and Marketing Corporation Saxony-Anhalt (IMG)
IMG is the economic development agency of the German federal state Saxony-Anhalt. IMG staff provides all services related to new business sites. In addition, we are marketing Saxony-Anhalt both nationally and internationally and developing tourism concepts.
We search our site and property database with 250 industrial and trade estates for a location tailored to your needs. We provide competent and individual advice for greenfield and brownfield sites, office properties or production halls. First site information provided within 24 hours. Arrangement of site visits take place following your preliminary selection. We can advise you on public grant programmes for investments, identify potential partners and arrange meetings with them. We identify a point of contact for you with the public authorities, coordinate and carry out negotiations for you on a federal state, state district and municipal level as well as with official bodies and institutions. We were assigned by the Ministry for Science and Economic Affairs of Saxony-Anhalt to guide you as a one-stop agency through the investment process.
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