Why is freeze dried fruit so much more expensive than fresh fruit?

Answer 1

In order to appreciate the difference in price between fresh and flustered fruit, you need to understand the weight comparison between the two. Rostered foods have 98% of their water removed. This reduces the food's weight by approximately 90%, making it easier to handle and less costly to ship. For instance, 10 pounds of strawberries weigh only 1 pound when they are freeze dried. So if 10 pounds of frozen strawberries cost $1/pound, the raw material cost equals $10. When the 10 pounds of frozen strawberries are freeze dried, the final product weighs only 1 pound, but the raw material cost remains $10.

Added to the raw material costs are the other factors of production - labor, equipment, packaging, regulation compliance, and profit.

While the above info is correct, if you are looking around to buy freeze dried fruit, it's actually pretty inexpensive and comparable to the price of other healthy snacks. Looking online for a 10g bag of freeze-dried apples costs under a dollar and you can get a box of 20 for like 18 bucks. . . Places like Trader Joes are a little more expensive, but they do carry exotic fruits that are very pricey if you buy them fresh in the supermarket. Then again, fresh fruit expires if you don't eat it when it is just right.

Answer 2

It doesn't. A raisin has as much sugar as a grape, assuming the producer didn't add corn syrup or sugar to the raisins. Because, however, raisins have had most of the water removed, the amount of sugar per ounce is going to be much more for raisins than fresh fruit. An ounce of raisins might contain several dozen raisins (which have the sugar of several dozen grapes) versus an ounce of grapes, which contains, perhaps, 8 grapes (the sugar content of 8 raisins). Removing water from the fruit is going to make it appear more concentrated, even though you'll be consuming the same amount of sugar per fruit. Again, this assumes the dried fruit hasn't had extra sugar added.

Answer 3

Dried fruit is made by removing water via warm, dry air in a dehydrator or outdoors on a dry, sunny, hot day.

Freeze dried fruit is processed in a factory in a more involved method whereby a nearly all of the moisture is removed, through a four-step process involving pretreatment, freezing, initial drying and secondary drying stages.

Dried fruit has a shorter shelf life and often has additives to prevent spoilage. Freeze dried fruit, properly stored in sealed containers, may last for decades and requires no further preservatives.