The opportunity
A solar-assisted, year-round dehydration plant built on land we already own in the Multan mango belt. Mango is the hero product in summer; the same dryers run tomato, onion, garlic, chilli and dates the rest of the year, so the plant never sits idle. It preserves a perishable 3–4 month harvest into a shelf-stable product that ships for 12 months — and it monetises the surplus, bruised and off-size fruit that a fresh-only operation simply throws away.
Revenue lines
- ▸ Dried mango slices & strips (retail snack + bakery/cereal ingredient)
- ▸ Mango leather / fruit bars (clean-label snack)
- ▸ Mango powder (smoothies, flavouring)
- ▸ Off-season: dried tomato, onion, garlic, chilli, dates
- ▸ Bulk ingredient supply + branded retail packs
Why now
- ● Healthy-snacking and clean-label demand are driving the dried-fruit market up ~6–8% a year, led by the USA, Netherlands, UK and Germany as importers.
- ● Pakistan loses an estimated 30–40% of its mango crop to poor post-harvest handling — a plant like this converts that loss into product.
- ● Both the National Bank of Pakistan and the Punjab Agriculture Department have published full feasibility studies (with 10-year financials and ~4-year paybacks) for this exact plant — the model is documented, not experimental.
- ● Solar-tunnel and solar-hybrid drying cut the biggest cost — energy — which matters in Pakistan's high-tariff environment.
Indicative economics
All figures are indicative planning ranges — confirmed jointly during due diligence, not a guaranteed return.
Capital requirement
Indicative PKR 40–80 million (~$150k–290k)
Wide range by scale and technology: a solar-tunnel pilot can start in the low single-digit millions of rupees, while a full ~2,000-tonnes/year multi-fruit plant is nearer the top of the range. Because MMA Farms already owns the land, roughly 20% of a standard project cost falls away. Final figures come from vendor quotes during due diligence.
How it earns
- ▸ Bulk industrial dried mango sells for roughly $3–5/kg; graded and branded product $8–15/kg.
- ▸ Off-season dried onion, chilli, tomato and garlic are steady export commodities that keep revenue flowing 12 months.
- ▸ Both retail-branded (higher margin) and bulk-ingredient (higher volume) channels are open.
Margin logic
The published feasibility shows a thin ~7–8% gross margin when raw fruit is bought at market price — because raw material is ~72% of cost. Our owned-orchard cull fruit attacks exactly that line, which is the whole point.
Payback thinking
Government feasibility models cluster around a ~4-year payback; we present 3.5–5 years as the realistic band. A small solar-tunnel Phase 1 can de-risk before committing to the full plant.
Plant & machinery
Solar tunnel dryer (Phase 1 option)
Low-cost, no-fuel drying; ideal pilot to prove the product before scaling.
Industrial hot-air / tray dehydrator
The workhorse for consistent, export-grade product at 100–1,500 kg fresh/batch.
Washing, peeling, slicing & blanching line
Prep line — can be locally fabricated to lower CAPEX.
Grading, moisture-control & sealing/packing
Export-grade finishing: moisture barrier packaging, batch grading, a small QA lab.
Generator + solar hybrid
Energy resilience against load-shedding; solar cuts the dominant running cost.
How it works, end to end
- 1Receive & sort fruit — our own orchard's surplus plus local buying in season.
- 2Wash, peel, slice and pre-treat (anti-browning dip) to protect colour and shelf life.
- 3Load trays and dry (solar/hot-air; mango slices typically 12–24 hours).
- 4Condition, grade for moisture and appearance, then seal in export packaging.
- 5Store and ship — bulk drums for ingredient buyers, retail packs for branded sale.
- 6Off-season: switch feedstock to tomato, onion, chilli, garlic or dates and repeat.
Why partner with MMA Farms
- ✦ Raw material at cost, not market — we grow the fruit, so the single biggest cost line (raw material, ~72%) is where we win.
- ✦ We monetise the 30–40% cull and surplus fruit that a fresh-only grower writes off entirely.
- ✦ Land is already owned — no acquisition cost, no siting delay, ~20% off a standard project budget.
- ✦ In the heart of the Multan mango belt — deep, cheap, nearby supply beyond our own orchard to scale.
- ✦ An existing, working mango business (mmafarms.com) — proof we can execute, source and sell.
Risks & how we manage them
We'd rather be straight about the risks now than surprise you later. Here's our honest view.
⚠ Energy cost & load-shedding
How we manage it: Solar-tunnel / solar-hybrid design plus on-site generation to keep the biggest cost line under control.
⚠ Export certification (HACCP / ISO 22000 / Halal)
How we manage it: Budgeted from day one as a line item — non-negotiable for export, and we already run a HACCP-oriented facility.
⚠ Under-drying → spoilage & rejected loads
How we manage it: Moisture-control instrumentation and a small QA lab; grade every batch before it ships.
⚠ Seasonality (mango is only 3–4 months)
How we manage it: This is designed as a multi-fruit plant — tomato, onion, chilli, garlic and dates fill the calendar; a mango-only plant would not be fundable.
Investor questions
Is this a real, proven business model in Pakistan?+
Yes. The National Bank of Pakistan (Agriculture Business Division) and the Punjab Agriculture Department have both published full pre-feasibility studies for a Pakistani multi-fruit dehydration plant, complete with 10-year financials, ~4-year paybacks and IRRs in the high-20s%. This is a documented model, not a concept — we're proposing to build it with an owned-orchard cost advantage most promoters don't have.
Why not just sell more fresh mangoes?+
Fresh mango is a 3–4 month window with a hard perishability wall, and 30–40% of the crop can't be sold fresh at all. Dehydration turns that perishable, partly-wasted harvest into a shelf-stable product sold year-round — a fundamentally different, more resilient revenue base.
How much would I need to invest?+
It depends on the scale and technology you're comfortable with — from a modest solar-tunnel Phase 1 to a full multi-fruit plant in the PKR 40–80 million range. We'll walk you through the options and the numbers on a call; there's no fixed ticket size.
What returns can you promise?+
None — and you should be wary of anyone in agriculture who promises a fixed return. What we can share is the published sector feasibility, our real cost advantage, and a transparent model we build together during due diligence. The figures on this page are indicative planning ranges, not a forecast of results.