Belmin Taletović, an 18-year-old boy from Zavidovići, can be a role model for many of his peers in Bosnia and Herzegovina. While many young men of his age spend time in cafes, pools and at home, Belmin successfully developed a fruit processing business. Over the past several years, he dedicated his efforts to fruit drying and he says that business and earnings are more than satisfying. The Taletović family owns a huge orchard and it was necessary to find a solution for the use of large amounts of fruit, mostly plums.
Belmin’s father has been living abroad for the past several years and meanwhile Belmin built a drying room for large amounts of fruit.
The estate of the Taletović family is located in the settlement Dubravica, near the center of Zavidovići, and the drying facility is located there as well. According to Belmin, the drying room that meets all standards was built four years ago and business has been thriving ever since.
Belmin says that it takes around 280 kilograms of fresh fruit to get around 80 kilograms of dried fruit.
“The fruit must be entirely ripe. Drying lasts for 24 hours, and the drying process partially continues when the fruit is stored in crates.
Given the volume of business, Belmin’s mother and relatives help him. They have a market for their product and they say that they sell their entire amount of final product to the stores in Zavidovići without a problem.
“Once can earn a nice amount of money from drying plums. Around five tons of fruit are dried in one season, and buyers in Zavidovići pay five BAM for one kilogram of dry plum,” Belmin added.
(Source: faktor.ba)
