Process
From farm to container
We are building a processing operation, not a trading desk. This is the chain we are constructing, in order. Where a step is not yet operational we mark it as planned rather than describing it as though it exists.
Every step below is currently planned.The facility is under development, so nothing on this page has yet been commissioned or run at commercial scale. We will replace these descriptions with photographs and confirmed equipment specifications as each stage comes online.
- 01
Farmer sourcing
Direct arrangements with farmer groups in the Chuadanga catchment, rather than open-market purchase through intermediaries. Traceability begins here — a lot must be attributable to a group.
Planned - 02
Collection & grading
Intake at the facility, weighed and graded against the product specification. Out-of-spec material is diverted rather than blended in.
Planned - 03
Washing & sanitising
Potable-water wash with a sanitising step to reduce initial microbial load before cutting.
Planned - 04
Cutting & sizing
Cut to the specified form — slice, dice, chip, flake — against a stated size tolerance.
Planned - 05
Pre-treatment
Blanching or other pre-treatment where the product requires it, for colour and enzyme control. Unsulphured by default; sulphuring only where a buyer specifies it.
Planned - 06
Drying
Cabinet air-drying against a controlled time and temperature profile per product. Equipment specification will be published here once selection is confirmed.
Planned - 07
Moisture testing
Every batch tested to the target moisture and water activity before it leaves the dryer.
Planned - 08
Sorting & inspection
Removal of off-colour, off-size and foreign material.
Planned - 09
Metal detection
In-line metal detection ahead of packing.
Planned - 10
Packing
Multi-layer barrier inner bags, cartoned to the agreed export configuration. Nitrogen flush or vacuum where the product and shelf-life target require it.
Planned - 11
Storage
Dry, temperature-controlled finished-goods storage with retained samples held per lot.
Planned - 12
Documentation & stuffing
Lot documentation assembled, certificate of analysis issued, container stuffed and sealed.
Planned
Traceability
Lot back to farmer group
Traceability is a legal requirement for food sold into the EU, but it is also the thing that makes a supplier auditable. We are designing the lot system so that any finished carton can be traced back through packing, drying batch and intake to the farmer group that supplied the raw material.
That design decision is easier to make now, before the facility is built, than to retrofit afterwards — which is the main reason we are publishing it before we can demonstrate it.