Dried apricots, the golden yellow snack ace

It is more versatile than a Swiss army knife: snack, superfood, sweet symbol of fertility and beauty - and these are just some of the things for which the apricot is known. Before these golden-yellow treasures end up in your Seeberger snack bag, they start out as juicy fruit in a place where tradition and nature exist in perfect harmony. Fancy exploring the roots of your snack stars?

Anna Moscagiuri

18.04.2024

in Product stories

Reading time: 5 minutes

Menschen sortieren Aprikosen auf blauen Planen im Schatten unter Bäumen.

A setting like no other

In the middle of the eastern Anatolian landscape of Malatya stretches an endless expanse of fertile fields. Here, the sun shines from dawn to dusk, a sweet fragrance lulls the fields to a steady beat and time seems to stand still - ideal conditions for growing top-quality fruit. This Turkish region is the cradle of apricot cultivation: as much as 90% of the world's harvest grows in the surrounding groves. This is no coincidence: the small fruits are far more than just a snack here. They are icons of the region and a fundamental cultural asset - literally deeply rooted and refined according to centuries-old tradition.

Early starters with a plan

When fruit trees slowly awaken from hibernation from around March, the apricot tree is already in full bloom and ready for the approaching summer. The light pink to bright pink blossoms appear even before the tree's leaves. That's pretty smart, because the apricot is very fond of warmth and the fruits are happy about every ray of sunshine during the growth phase - the earlier ripening begins, the longer the summer lasts.

Aprikosen hängen reif an einem Zweig, im Obstgarten unter klarem, blauem Himmel.

High-yield loner

Fittingly, most apricot varieties do not wait for insects. As self-pollinators, they can shorten the pollination process because they do not need pollen from other apricot trees to produce fruit. This is possible because a tree carries both male and female reproductive organs in its flowers. Fertilization often occurs through the transfer of pollen within the same flower or from flower to flower on the same tree. This is why individual trees in gardens or fields can also produce fruit. Nevertheless, pollination with foreign pollen raises the quantity and quality of the harvest to a significantly higher level - which happens naturally in the groves anyway.

Aprikosen trocknen auf Reihen unter freiem Himmel neben einem Gebäude auf dem Land.

Glow in apricot

After the apricot trees have given their best, the harvest begins - a rhythmic shaking of the branches loosens the ripe fruit, which is collected from the ground by hand. As soon as the branches and leaves have been sorted out, the harvest is placed in a closed room for around 24 hours, where it is lightly sulphurized. As a result, the dried fruit retains its bright orange color and does not turn brown before it reaches the snack bag. This also stops the growth of mold and other microorganisms.

Radiantly dry

Then it's the sun's turn again: the apricots are dried for around three days on spread-out tarpaulins - completely naturally and in the open air. This preserves the ideal taste and the many nutrients of our fruit. Back at the farm, the last foreign objects are removed from the batch and the sun-kissed apricots are pitted by hand.

The art of consistency

In the next step, the fruit is separated according to size.
Side Facts:

At Seeberger, we use particularly large apricots that are sorted especially for us.
We also attach great importance to the familiar velvety Seeberger consistency of our dried fruit.

To ensure that our apricots are also silky-soft, they are now dried for the last time - this time in the oven, which is also their farewell to the harvest site. Before they travel to us in Ulm, they rest and can be checked for any final foreign bodies.

On average, 6 - 7 kg of fresh apricots are needed to pack 1 kg of dried apricots.

End boss Seeberger laboratory

Once the apricots have completed their journey, they are examined again by our in-house food chemistry laboratory in Ulm. We pay particular attention to shape, color, size, smell and foreign material. Only when this final check has been passed do we release the fruit for packing.

Reliable safety

We have been working with our apricot suppliers for more than two decades. Thanks to this long-standing cooperation, we can guarantee certain purchase quantities at an early stage. The farmers reserve this quota and receive the first down payment before the harvest. This means they are not reliant on expensive bank loans to cover their running costs.

Your grandiose pleasure with good knowledge

You are what you eat. So it's only logical for us to show you how and where your snacks are made. But enough talk, where are the stars? Grab your velvety-sweet figs from the Turkish sun. Guaranteed from a good home and grown with love. <3