Fruit Dryer Machine in France

In 2024, after extensive internal meetings, they made the call to invest in an industrial-grade fruit dryer machine in France that would run alongside their existing sorting and packaging line. They needed reliable capacity, gentle drying to preserve color and flavor, and energy efficiency because electricity costs in rural France are a real concern.

After months of technical talks, site planning, and local approvals, they settled on one of our most versatile models: the DHG-1000, which is an electric heating multi-layer belt dryer. This unit offers:

• Heating method: Electric
• Total installed power: 70kW + 2.2kW*3 fans + 1.5kW motor
• Five mesh layers for staged drying
• Effective belt width: 1.2 meters
• Drying area: 43㎡, large enough for daily small-batch processing

This fruit dryer machine in France fits perfectly with the scale of their operations — not too small to be inefficient, not too large to sit idle out of season. They plan to run it intensively during the three peak months from June to August, focusing first on apricots and plums, then switching to apple chips and pear slices for the autumn orders.

What really made this fruit dryer machine in France a practical choice is its ability to handle a variety of cuts — whole slices, dices, or half fruits — without burning or case-hardening the product. The mesh belt structure and adjustable temperature stages mean the cooperative can dial in gentle, consistent airflow that preserves the bright color their high-end buyers want. This is vital because French organic stores and export buyers reject dull, overcooked dried fruit.

France has been steadily pushing for added value in local farm products. Instead of bulk fresh fruit at volatile wholesale prices, more small cooperatives now turn to dried fruit packs, jams, or powder lines. A fruit dryer machine like the DHG-1000 helps them do exactly that — transforming fruit that might otherwise rot in storage into shelf-stable premium snacks with far higher profit margins.

Another big plus for this cooperative was how easy it is to integrate our dryer with their modest processing area. The fruit drying equipment's 1.2-meter wide mesh belt matches their grading conveyor perfectly, so freshly washed and sliced fruit moves straight to the drying chamber with minimal manual handling. They also liked the fact that all our food contact parts are food-grade stainless steel — a must for France’s strict food safety inspections.

One challenge we tackled early on was their power constraints: their village network only supports limited high-load equipment. To address this, our engineers adjusted the system with staged heating sections so that peak load never trips the local supply, and included proper insulation to keep heat loss minimal.

Though the DHG-1000 fruit dryer machine in France is designed mainly for fruit, the customer is already thinking ahead. They asked if they could run seasonal tomato slices for sun-dried-style packs, or experiment with drying local herbs like lavender. The answer is yes — this same belt dryer can handle soft vegetables, root slices, or culinary herbs with just minor tweaks to temperature and belt speed. In future, they could even run tests for light nut drying or mushroom dehydration during off-season gaps.

RICHI's strength in these single-unit solutions is that we do more than ship a standard dryer. Every machine goes out with a customized airflow plan, wiring diagram, and we send detailed operation videos. In this belt drying system project, because the cooperative's staff had never run a professional fruit dryer before, we arranged online training sessions covering pre-drying treatments, moisture targets, and daily cleaning. This is one reason so many small processors trust us — they know they can call anytime if they want to switch crops or fine-tune recipes.

To this day, our technical support team keeps in touch, ready to supply replacement belts, heating elements, or extra mesh layers if they want to ramp up capacity. If the cooperative decides to expand into a multi-chamber drying plant in a few years, the DHG-1000’s reliable performance will have paved the way.

When local buyers or food fair visitors see the bright, naturally dried fruit chips this machine produces, they're quick to ask where the equipment came from — and our client never hesitates to say: “It's a RICHI fruit dryer machine.”

In the coming seasons, as France's demand for clean-label, low-additive snacks grows, we believe this cooperative's story will inspire many others. From orchard to drying to market shelves, one well-chosen fruit dryer machine in France can help small producers hold onto more value — and more pride in what they grow.

If you're a farmer, processor, or agri-cooperative looking to do the same, don't hesitate to reach out. Whether it's a fruit dryer machine, fruit drying equipment, or a full belt fruit drying system, our team at RICHI Machinery is always ready to share ideas, real cases, and honest technical advice.