The Quest To Perfectly Freeze-dry Fruit

A lightweight sweet snack that packs a fruity punch

Jams, juice, and dried (dehydrated): just a few ways fruit is commonly processed. However, some fruit growers are trying novel ways to deliver new fruity flavors to consumers. Yamanashi City producer of peaches and grapes Takano Farm is the first in Yamanashi Prefecture to install a vacuum freeze dryer and has taken up the challenge of making its own freeze-dried fruit.

While dried fruit usually sees a small percentage of moisture still retained, freeze drying removes almost all the water content. Picking up a packet of some of the freeze-dried fruit Takano Farm sells is a surprise: there is almost no weight to it at all. The fruit has a crispy texture, but it soon becomes soft and chewy in your mouth; the condensed sweetness expands, and a delicious aroma is released. Rather than actually eating something tangible, it almost seems like you have taken a delicious mouthful of fruit-filled air! No wonder that the Takano Farm’s freeze-dried fruit is sold under the name, ‘Airy Fruit’.

The quest to preserve the delicious flavor of fresh fruit

Manager of the Takano Farm, Hironori Takano, has continued in his father’s footsteps by growing peaches and grapes with a focus on reducing pesticides and using organic fertilizers. The farm receives orders from customers all over Japan and it was the feedback from one of those customers that lead Takano on the path to developing his ‘Airy Fruit’.

“Every year, we get fruit that can’t be sold to customers due to it being damaged in some way, despite the fact that it tastes perfectly fine. I was in the middle of various trial and error efforts, trying to figure out how I could use fruit without waste, when a customer said, ‘It would be great if I could eat your peaches or grapes at other times of the year.’ I started to then think of ways in which I could have people enjoy how delicious our produce is even when the fruit is out of season,” Takano recalls.

“Dried fruit is a common way that fresh fruit is processed. But, to be honest: I am not a fan of that unique texture dried fruit has! I was thinking of other ways they might be preserved when I remembered something that I had heard about freeze drying. I got my hands on some freeze-dried fruit and when I tried it, despite my dislike of dried fruit, I thought it was delicious. ‘Right! I’m going to try and make this myself,’ I decided.”

From difficult trial runs to in-house production: all in the pursuit of deliciousness

While he had set his sights on freeze drying his fruit, Takano could not find a vacuum freeze-drying device at any of the universities in Yamanashi or at the nearby Technical Center. There were also no makers of such equipment in the prefecture, so Takano started to look further afield. The next two years after 2015 were spent engaging in trial runs. At the time, there were hardly any freeze-dried peaches and grapes on the market; Takano was starting without any expertise and with no other products to make comparisons with. He recollects how difficult it was to develop his product due to the fact that there were limited opportunities to come up with prototypes during the short period the fruit is in season.

“I wanted to dry the fruit when it was at the perfect ripe stage, but I would have to reserve the freeze drier a whole two weeks beforehand, making it very difficult to schedule things. We started the drying at another facility in 2018, but as it is important to act fast to ensure that the fruit is freeze-dried when it is the most delicious in addition to us also wanting to explore making other products using the freeze-drying method, we applied for a Small and Medium Enterprise Agency subsidy in 2019 and purchased our very own vacuum freeze drying machine.”

The production process is relatively simple: the fruit is cut into bit-sized pieces before being rapidly frozen and then vacuum-dried. However, precisely because of this simplicity there is more of a focus by Takano on the time spent on each step and the way in which it is carried out. In particular, the way the finished product turns out changes according to the time the fruit is frozen and then dried; this detail is a trade secret. Takano pays special attention to both the rapid freezing of the fruit and carefully drying it without any application of heat. With heat, the freeze-drying process may be shortened, but taking the extra time ensures that the taste is not lost in the finished product. Takano says that the key feature of being able to create freeze-dried fruit in-house is that it gives him greater control over quality.

“The best part about doing this in-house is that we can see which fruit is fully ripe, pick it, and immediately process it. Peaches particularly change color soon after they are cut so we have installed a machine that cuts them up quickly. Grapes are more delicious when they are first cut in half before freeze-drying, so I recently introduced a machine to cut those — I believe it’s the first of its kind in Japan.”

The peach version of the ‘Airy Fruit’ has a pale, attractive pink color. There is no artificial coloring used; the processing is so fast that the original color of the peach is largely retained. In fact, the only additive used is when the fruit is dipped quickly into citric acid to prevent discoloration — there is complete peace of mind when eating these healthy snacks. After such an effort goes into growing the fruit, no compromise is made when it comes to the processing stage. Takano is now turning his attention to new techniques in order to create even tastier freeze-dried fruit and actively introducing these continuously.

New ways to enjoy fruit at the dining table

‘Airy Fruit’ is a popular gift given by those already familiar with the quality of Takano’s fruit. Women in particular are fond of the package design. It has only been a year and a half since he started making the product in-house in earnest, but Takano already has received a great amount of positive feedback.

“Freeze-dried fruit is still not commonly seen in Japan so there are many who are surprised about the fact it even exists. The customers who have tried our product have said some really nice things about it, like ‘If this is how nice the fruit tastes freeze-dried, it must be exquisite in its fresh form!’ Additionally, when fellow growers say things like, ‘It tastes exactly like a peach should,’ I think about the long time it’s taken us to develop the ‘Airy Fruit’, but how worthwhile it was to really take the time to concentrate on retaining the original flavor of the fruit.”