Healthy Fruit Leather: From Home Kitchen to Growing Enterprise

What started as a homemade experiment has grown into a sustainable enterprise. Her products are now available in health food stores and pharmacies in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. They comply with national food safety standards, and are preparing to enter international markets.

Samara’s journey began in her own kitchen with simple ingredients: beetroot, pumpkin, and apples. As she shared her creations with family and neighbours, demand grew.
‘I just wanted my kids to eat something natural, without sugar or additives,’ she said. ‘Then people started asking for more, and I realized this could become something bigger.’

Today, Samara is more than an entrepreneur – she’s a food technologist and a community employer. Her small workshop, located next to her home, operates year-round and produces over 10 varieties of fruit leather, from apple and mint to sea buckthorn, plum, strawberry, and beetroot with flaxseed. Samara purees the fruit using little or no sugar, and then spreads it into a thin layer. Once the puree dehydrates, it turns into a sheet of ‘leather’ that makes a nutritious snack.

All products are vacuum-packed, made without preservatives or added sugar, and have a long shelf life. Her team includes five local women, many of whom work part-time to balance childcare with earning an income. A larger production facility is now under construction next to her home to meet growing demand.

She continues to strengthen her skills through business development programmes and represents Kyrgyzstan at regional entrepreneurship platforms. After completing various ITC activities for women entrepreneurs, she gained a stronger sense of her own leadership potential. ‘Each programme gives you more than just knowledge. It helps you see yourself in a new light. I understood that entrepreneurship is not only about business. It’s about leadership and impact,’ she says.

In 2024, NaktaKak was selected as a beneficiary of the project Ready4Trade Central Asia: Fostering Prosperity Through the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor, funded by the European Union and implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC). In Kyrgyzstan, the project supports small businesses in the dried fruit sector to strengthen their export capacity, comply with EU standards, and build business linkages both within Central Asia and with the European Union.

With support from the project, Samara strengthened her technical skills through specialized training in dried fruit processing. She participated in a hands-on workshop on natural sweet production and received tailored expert guidance. ‘Before, I did everything by intuition. Now I understand how critical temperature control, packaging, and hygiene are. We made practical improvements, and the difference is clear,’ said Samara. ‘The training was incredibly hands-on. We were shown how to extend shelf life and protect the product without using sugar or preservatives. That knowledge changed everything for me.’

The experience not only improved her technical capacity – it also helped shape her long-term business vision. She is now developing a corporate product line, planning to export, and expanding her team. ‘Now I have not just knowledge, but confidence. I see real opportunities ahead. And I want other women to see that potential in themselves too,’ she said.

Samara now shares her experience with others, especially women in rural areas. She provides advice, runs workshops, and helps distribute drying equipment, supporting other women to launch their own ventures. Her work reflects a broader commitment to inclusion and empowerment.

Her story shows how practical training and tailored guidance, combined with personal resilience and determination, can turn a small-scale initiative into a sustainable business that generates income, supports families, and contributes to sector development.

About Ready4Trade Central Asia: Fostering Prosperity Through the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor (2024-2028)

This four-year technical assistance project funded by the European Union (EU) aims to advance the EU-Central Asia connectivity agenda through increasing the operational efficiency of the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor and internationalisation of Central Asian business. This will be achieved through simplifying cross-border formalities to attract trade and sustainable investment; improving regional coordination to foster trade and transport connectivity; and enhancing the competitiveness of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to facilitate their access to regional and EU markets, including through leveraging the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor.