Mango from India
Currently, farmers in India receive about 1000 EUR for a ton of Alphonso Mango, with prices varying significantly over the year. European producers pay about 4500 EUR per ton of mango in Europe. After removing the skin and seed, the producer is left with about 700 Kg of material for freeze-drying. The energy costs for the freeze-drying (FD) process are about 250 EUR, plus another 250 EUR for labor. After freeze-drying, they obtain about 80 Kg of FD material at a production cost of 62.5 EUR/Kg. This material, if of good quality, can be sold for about 75 to 140 EUR/ kg.
By freeze-drying the material in India, the farmer faces similar energy costs but much lower labor costs, around 20 EUR. The material costs are 1000 EUR, resulting in a cost of 15.5 EUR per Kg. They can then market their product directly to the end consumer, gaining flexibility by selling to local wholesalers when prices are high and freeze-drying when local prices are low. On average, they could make roughly 500% more.