Sourcing: The Farms Behind the Pouch
Where our fruit comes from, why we pay above market rate, and what changed when we started buying direct.
When we started in 2023 we bought fruit at Kalimati market like everyone else. It was convenient, and it was the single biggest limitation on how good the product could be.
The problem with buying at market
By the time fruit reaches a wholesale market it has usually been picked early — hard enough to survive transport and handling. Early-picked fruit never develops full sugar content. You cannot dehydrate that into something excellent; you can only concentrate what is already there.
You also have no idea what happened before it arrived. No traceability, no relationship, no ability to ask for a later pick.
Going direct
We now buy from eleven farms — mango and banana from Chitwan and Nawalparasi, citrus from Sindhuli, berries from a cooperative in Ilam. We pay 15–20% above the prevailing market rate, and in exchange we ask for something the market does not: fruit picked at full ripeness, delivered within 24 hours.
- Fruit is picked ripe, not transport-hard
- It reaches our facility within a day, so nothing is lost to storage
- Farmers get a guaranteed price agreed before the season starts
- We can trace every batch back to the farm it came from
What we get wrong
Buying direct means accepting the season. There are weeks when a variety is simply unavailable, and we go out of stock rather than substitute in market fruit. Customers notice, and occasionally they are annoyed. We think it is the correct trade, but we would rather be honest that it is a trade.
Keep reading
Why We Never Add Sugar
Most dried fruit on the shelf is candy in disguise. Here's what we found when we started reading labels — and why we build ours differently.
Dehydration vs Freeze-Drying: What Actually Changes
Two methods, two very different results. A practical guide to which one suits which fruit, and why we use both.
Five-Minute Smoothie Bowls That Actually Fill You Up
Four formulas built on fruit powder, each balanced for protein and fibre so you're not hungry again by ten.