Dehydrated vegetables, also known as rehydrated vegetables, are dried vegetables made by washing and drying fresh vegetables to remove most of the water in the vegetables. Compared with other fresh vegetables, dehydrated vegetables have the characteristics of small size, lightweight, recovery after water intake, convenient transportation, consumption, etc., which can effectively adjust the vegetable production season. When eaten, it is not only delicious and delicious but also maintains its original nutritional value.
The methods of dehydrating vegetables include natural drying and artificial dehydration. Natural drying is the use of natural conditions to dehydrate vegetables. In ancient times, people have begun to apply this method. Artificial dehydration includes hot air drying, microwave drying, puffing drying, infrared and far-infrared drying, and vacuum drying. At present, the most common applications of vegetable dehydration and drying are hot air drying and dehydration and freeze-vacuum drying and dehydration.
Quantum data shows that in recent years, the total output of dehydrated vegetables in my country has shown an upward trend, increasing at a rate of 10% every year. With a relatively stable annual growth rate of 10%, the output of dehydrated vegetables in my country will reach 302,300 tons in 2020 and 623,700 tons by 2025.
In recent years, with the rapid development of the world food industry, dehydrated vegetables were once in short supply and the market gap was large. Due to the increase in vegetable production costs in some developed countries, many countries and regions are willing to import cheap commodity vegetables from my country. In 2017, the annual output value of my country's dehydrated vegetable industry was 6 billion yuan, 6.6 billion yuan in 2018, and 7.4 billion yuan in 2020, showing a steady upward trend. The advantages of vegetable resources have been transformed into product advantages and economic advantages.
The production and variety of dehydrated vegetables in China are increasing. Carrots, edible fungi, cabbage, cabbage, beans, cucumbers, celery, green peppers, garlic sprouts, ginger, potatoes, garlic, onions, bamboo shoots, daylilies, edible fungi dehydrated vegetables are exported to Japan, South Korea, the European Union, and many other countries and regions. Of course, not only do foreign consumers prefer dehydrated vegetables, but many domestic consumers are fans of dehydrated vegetables. There is also a great demand for dehydrated vegetables in supermarkets, instant noodle manufacturers, and some remote areas in some large and medium-sized cities.
In addition, dehydrated vegetables for snacks, dried lettuce in small plastic cans, dried eggplant, dried purple potato, and other dehydrated vegetable products are also popular among urban white-collar workers. The demand in this field is also increasing year by year. Innolux data shows that Asia is an active region for fruit and vegetable snack innovation. Among the new fruit and vegetable snacks released last year, Asia accounted for the highest proportion, reaching 29%, while North America and Europe combined accounted for only 23%. Among them, 32% of Chinese consumers bought more dried fruits and vegetables as snacks compared to the past six months.
Quantum Data believes that with the advancement of science and the acceleration of social development, many people are increasingly pursuing convenience and speed in life, and dehydrated vegetables have also emerged as the times require. Dehydrated vegetables can be used in almost all fields of food processing, which can improve the nutritional content of products, improve the color and flavor of products, and also enrich the variety of products, greatly improving the food structure of consumers. With the improvement of people's health awareness and consumption upgrades, high-end products will also be favored. Therefore, freeze-dried foods including fruit and vegetable crispy snacks will also have the opportunity to become good partners for consumers' healthy life.