Dried Tomatoes | Al Reef Fair Trade

Dried Tomatoes


Our salted sundried tomatoes are naturally grown and have an intense delicious tangy flavor which can be added to soups and stews and are great in pastas, salads, risottos and pizza; a must ingredient for any professional kitchen . Fair traded and brought to you by small scale farmers from the Holy Land Agricultural Cooperative in Al Zababideh village.


If you have ever wondered what variety of tomatoes we use for drying; it’s called “palm tomatoes” and it’s named so due to its outside appearance as it looks like palms fruits.  Palm tomatoes are the best for dried tomatoes production due to their high prix and solid contents and low water content! Know more about our fair traded dried tomatoes and their impact on small scale farmers here: http://alreeffairtrade.ps/sites/default/files/newsletters/dried_tomatoes_season_2016.pdf 


The quality control staff makes field visits to farms in June/ July to estimate the production quantity, examine quality inspection in terms of diseases, infections etc. Al Reef signs contracts to get a specific quantity of tomatoes as instructed by the Quality Assurance Dept. Then, purchase contracts are signed with the farmers.  After the Quality Assurance Dept. approves the quality of tomatoes, staff from Al Reef visit the farmers and check the tomatoes physically. Then, the tomatoes are weighed, filled and transported to the factory inside ventilated plastic boxes.


The reception of dried tomatoes includes the Procurement Manager to register the quantity of tomatoes, check the weight and issues a receipt. Then, tomatoes are sorted, washed with water, sliced and salted.


The sliced tomatoes are then distributed inside the green house for three to four days until they are completely dried.  This is inside a greenhouse that is fully protected against insects and birds. Another analysis is done for the dried tomatoes after they are dried in terms of (microbiology and chemical testing) to ensure the quality of the dried tomatoes.  Then, Al Reef sends pre-shipment samples representing the whole quantity to the importer and once the samples are approved by the importer, Al Reef dispatches the shipment.


Last step:  Dried tomatoes are filled in different packages according to the different orders.