Agriculture & food
Dried tropical fruit
Dried tropical fruit is bought on appearance and sold on ingredient declaration. Sulphite keeps the colour bright and is restricted and declarable in most markets. Added sugar changes both the taste and how the product is labelled, and neither is visible in the bag.
How it leaves the country.
- Sun and tunnel dried
- Conventional drying to a target water activity. The bulk of the trade and where the sulphur question sits.
- Freeze dried
- Crisp, light and expensive, keeping colour and flavour without additives. A different product for a different shelf.
- Soft dried, sweetened
- Infused with sugar syrup before drying, which gives a soft chewy texture. It also makes the product a confectionery in some markets.
- Unsulphured and unsweetened
- Darker, less uniform, with a shorter shelf life and a clean declaration. What most natural and organic brands want.
How it is graded.
Judged on colour, texture and what it will say on your ingredient list. The first two are the product and the third decides whether you can sell it.
- Sulphite treatment
- Sulphur dioxide preserves the bright colour of dried mango and pineapple. It is a declarable allergen and it is limited by regulation, so ask for the residue figure rather than a yes or no.
- Added sugar
- Very common and often undeclared in a first offer. It changes taste, texture, price per unit of fruit and the labelling category.
- Water activity
- What actually determines microbiological stability. Moisture content alone does not, which is why this is the number to specify.
- Texture
- Soft, chewy or leathery. It follows from the drying method and the sugar, and it should be agreed against a retained sample.
- Colour uniformity
- The visible quality signal, and the main reason producers reach for sulphur in the first place.
- Foreign matter and stalk
- Preparation is manual, so what stays in the bag reflects how the line was run.
How it is packed.
- Barrier film
- Dried fruit reabsorbs moisture and goes sticky or mouldy. The film is the whole defence over a long ocean voyage.
- Bulk cartons or retail
- Lined cartons for repackers, finished packs for brands. Retail artwork has to satisfy the destination's labelling rules before printing.
- Heat
- Sugar-containing fruit softens and blocks together in a hot container. Stow away from the door and the walls.
- Pest control
- A sweet dried product in a tropical warehouse. Storage discipline before loading matters as much as the pack.
Where it grows.
East Java
Java
Fruit growing with the largest concentration of drying capacity and export experience.
West Java
Java
Processing near Jakarta with access to laboratories and to the port.
Lampung
Sumatra
Large-scale fruit agriculture with integrated processing.
Bali
Bali
Smaller producers oriented to premium, organic and unsulphured product.
Origins with a protected name.
Names the trade contracts on, most of them on the Indonesian register of geographical indications.
Documentation, where applicable.
- Certificate of analysis
- Water activity, sulphite residue and microbiology on the shipped lot rather than a typical figure.
- HACCP certificate
- Drying, sulphuring and packing are the controls. Where a plant handles both sulphured and unsulphured lines, the changeover is the question.1
- Organic certificate
- Where the fruit and the processing are certified, and the certifier has to be one your market accepts.2
- Halal certificate
- Standard for Indonesian food exports and required for several destination markets.3
Questions buyers ask.
Why is the mango so bright orange?
Usually sulphur dioxide. It is permitted within limits in most markets, it has to be declared, and it is treated as an allergen. Ask for the residue figure on the shipped lot rather than accepting a description.
Is there added sugar?
Frequently yes, and it is often not mentioned in the first offer. Ask directly, because it changes the price per unit of actual fruit and it changes what your own label has to say.
Can I get unsulphured product?
Yes, and it looks darker and less uniform, which some buyers then reject on appearance. Decide which you actually want before ordering, because the two cannot be compared on looks.
What is the most common arrival problem?
Stickiness and blocking, caused by moisture pickup or heat in transit. Both are packaging and stow questions rather than production faults.
What does your service cost?
Five per cent of the order value, paid by you and never by the factory. A factory audit starts at $250 depending on location. We work with orders from $10,000 per shipment.
Tell us what you need.
Give us the specification and the destination port. We come back with producer options and an indicative price. Our fee is 5 % of the order value, paid by you and never by the factory.
Sources
- 1General principles of food hygiene and the HACCP system. Codex Alimentarius, FAO and WHO. Checked 3 August 2026.
- 2Regulation (EU) 2018/848 on organic production and labelling. EUR-Lex. Checked 3 August 2026.
- 3Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Produk Halal. BPJPH, Ministry of Religious Affairs, Republic of Indonesia. Checked 3 August 2026.