Tropical Wholefoods-making the most of nature

 

by Tropical Wholefoods

Making the most of what nature has to offer - and helping smallholder farmers in Pakistan at the same time.
When we think of an apricot, we think of the soft orange flesh around the stone. But crack open that stone and you’ll find one of nature’s treasures - a delicious, nutritious treat known as an apricot kernel.

Award-winning fair trade dried fruit company Tropical Wholefoods has recently introduced apricot kernels to the UK market in three flavours: natural, chilli roast and tamari soya roast. (Tamari is a wheat free, traditionally brewed soy sauce).

And in an added twist, Tropical Wholefoods is also planning to use the apricot stone itself as an exfolliant ingredient in cosmetics. This will mean every single part of the fruit will be consumed or used in a useful way, and smallholder farmers and their families in remote areas of northern Pakistan will be able to earn more from their crops.

Kate Sebag, Marketing Director of Tropical Wholefoods, explains: “We’re always looking for ways of increasing dividends to the farmers we work alongside. It’s clear to everyone that the world has limited resources so how wonderful it will be to find three ways of generating income - from a single fruit - the apricot.”

The kernels are small, almond-shaped and taste like almonds with hints of amaretti. They are rich in mono and polyunsaturated fats and fibre and are widely eaten by the
famously long-lived mountain people of northern Pakistan. The kernels carry the FAIRTRADE Mark. This means farmers receive extra income from their fruit and can invest more in their villages, schools and land.

Kate Sebag adds: “Apricot kernels are great as a snack or scattered on salads. They are also lovely to cook with. Ground up they make wonderful ingredients for cakes and biscuits, and are traditionally used in the Italian amaretti biscuits.” Recipes using the kernels are available on www.tropicalwholefoods.com.

The kernels come in 50g packs and sell for a suggested retail price of 99p. They are available from health food stores nationwide and from Tropical Wholefoods www.tropicalwholefoods.co.uk and other online stockists. The products are savoury and so mark a change in direction from the fruit snacks and cereal bars for which Tropical Wholefoods is already well known. However the kernels are also an important ingredient in the company’s delicious Apricot & Kernel cereal bar. These are sold at 150 Boots stores and in health food stores across the country and can be bought as part of Boots’ very popular Meal Deal (£2.99 for a sandwich, snack, and drink in most stores).
The company was established by Kate and her husband Adam Brett seventeen years ago in order to win lasting markets for farmers in developing countries. In 1997 they started working with a charitable foundation which has an aim of improving the livelihood of people living in the higher areas of the Karakorum Mountains in the northern areas of Pakistan.
The pure highland environment of the Karakorum Mountains, where fruit is grown at between 4,500 - 9,500 feet during long summer days, fed by glacial meltwater, creates fruits with extraordinarily beautiful taste & flavour. The Hunza apricot is known the world over for its bright and tangy flavour, which is rich and full of complexity. But due to seasonal gluts in production much of this output is wasted as it rots before it can be consumed or marketed. Communities are very poor, living in some of the harshest environmental conditions possible, with summer temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celcius, winter temperatures below -10 degrees.
Sun drying the apricots and selling the kernels and the shells are ways of ensuring that the harvests can benefit the farmers and their families as much as possible. More than 1,500 farmers benefit from Tropical Wholefoods’ trade and no chemicals, pesticides or fertilizers are used. The methods used ensure a good business for these farmers and delicious, healthy products for us to buy.

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