“Oh, wow! Nepali apples!”
That was the first thing we heard at our table at the GIZ Nepal Dashain Fair on 9th October 2026. Mandala Foods and Mandala AgriFresh were invited alongside other GIZ partners to meet around 200 GIZ staff. Our table featured Maya Strawberry Spread, Maya Apple Puree, Maya Peanut Butter, Maya Apple Molasses, and fresh apples from Dolpa and Jumla, including Mustang
People ‘stopped’ for the apples. They ‘stayed’ for the story.
Curiosity first, then the questions
Nobody bought the apples because they were told to. They bought because they learned something they hadn’t known. A lot of good fruit in Nepal goes to waste, simply because of its size and how it looks.
Once people heard that, the questions followed quickly. “Where were these golden apples grown?” “Why do some have marks on the skin?”
Our answer is the idea behind everything we make at Mandala Foods: Fruit First, Sugar Second. We start with real Nepali fruit that is perfectly good to eat but was rejected for being smaller in size, shape, or color. Then we turn it into food people want to eat, with the fruit doing most of the work and sugar playing the shelf-life-extending role.
Can I feed this to my children?
“Strawberry spread, hmm…can this be fed to children?” This was the question we heard most. The reasons people bought were simple and close to home. Parents wanted something they could feel good about feeding their children. Others wanted to try products made from local produce. Mandala Foods’ Maya Strawberry Spread drew special attention because it is made with more fruit (than any other product available in the market!). For many visitors, that settled it.
So, can it really be fed to children? A resounding YES! That’s what many of these jars went home for.
A fair that walked the talk
This fair is also a credit to GIZ. Rather than only speaking about supporting local products, GIZ opened its own event and invited its own team and staff to shop from the projects it funds and supports. Change starts at home, and this was a good example of it.
The apples that stayed, the puree that left
Not every product moved the same way. The fresh Dolpa and Jumla apples did not find buyers due to their appearance, but the puree did. That is the story of our work in one table: fruit that looks cosmetically imperfect and hard to sell fresh can still find its place on someone’s plate when it becomes something people want to feed their families.
The purchases marked a good start, but the real change is when choosing upcycled, local fruit becomes an ordinary part of life. Every jar and every bag of apples bought is a small step toward less food loss and more support for farmers.
Are you finding the work impactful? Try a Mandala product this festive season, or talk to us about stocking it in your café, hotel, office, meals, or shop.
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