32 28 MARCH 2024 VIP VERY IMPORTANT PRODUCER “Fruit has been our family business for six generations, since 1832,” says Handri. “Over the years, every generation has made its own improvements, and so of course when I took over from my father, I was looking for my opportunity to innovate. The soft eating dried fruit we produce now was the result. “Drying fruit has a long tradition in this part of the world, where it was originally done to preserve the crops for home use, and we’d been producing dried fruit commercially for a long time. “But I had seen something di erent done with prunes in France, where they came out soft and plump, so I thought: ‘Could we make that work with other fruit?’ We developed our own process that, after the fruit has been dried, adds back enough ‘It’s not just the texture that’s special You’ll get a delicious burst of flavour as soon as you bite into it’ ‘AN EXTRA STAY IN THE SUNSHINE BRINGS OUT ALL THE SWEETNESS’ Handri Conradie grows mangoes in South Africa for the Waitrose No.1 range, leaving them on the tree for longer and using a drying process that makes them deliciously soft moisture to make it really soft and delicious. “Our mangoes are grown in the far north of the country, where the tropical climate is perfect for making them sweet and juicy. We only select varieties best suited for drying, and because they’re going to be dried, they can be left on the tree for longer than fresh fruit, which has to be picked early enough to survive travel and still have some shelf life. “That extra stay in the sunshine brings out all the sweetness and means there’s plenty of time for the flavour to develop. When they’re just right, they’re picked by hand, and slowly dried in ovens at a controlled temperature. Then comes the clever part, when we add back just enough moisture to make them soft and velvety. “But it’s not just the texture that’s special. Usually, drying fruit makes it hard and dry, so you have to chew it for a while to get the flavour – like the biltong [dried, cured meat] that we eat here in South Africa. With this, you’ll get a burst of flavour as soon as you bite into it. “It tastes amazing – we’re very proud of it.” See what our farmers are doing this week on Instagram – @waitrosefarmers
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