Test your product before you buy the machine
Every yield figure on this site is an engineering estimate. Your material is not an estimate. It has its own sugar content, cell structure and water activity, and those decide what comes out of the chamber.
Send us up to 4 kg. We run one full cycle on a machine in our Madrid facility and send you a report built on measurements taken from your product, not from a table.
The first cycle is free. Tell us what the material is, and if we can run it and have the capacity, we run it and you pay nothing for the work. You cover the freight both ways, or arrange your own collection.
What you get
- Measured yield: Fresh weight in, dry weight out, as a percentage. This is the number your business case runs on, and nobody can give it to you honestly without drying your material first.
- Residual moisture: Measured rather than assumed.
- How your material behaved: How it froze, how it dried, whether the structure held, and where it did not.
- Photos before and after: And a rehydration check where it makes sense for your product.
- Two machines that fit your annual volume: With current prices. We carry four ranges and have no reason to steer you to one over another. The recommendation follows the technical fit.
- Your cost per kilo of dried product: At your volumes, with every assumption written down so you can argue with it.
How it works
- Tell us what the material is: One form. We reply with whether we can run it, what condition it has to arrive in, and when we have a slot.
- Shipping instructions reach you by email once we accept it: How to pack it, how to label it, and whether your material has to travel frozen.
- You ship the material to Madrid: At your cost.
- We check how many cycles it needs: Before anything is loaded, and confirm the price with you first.
- We run it and send the report: Typically within 10 business days of the sample arriving, depending on machine availability, then we take 30 minutes with you to go through it.
Anything outside that (more cycles, several materials, a specific machine you want it run on) is quoted from the same form, usually the next business day.
What we cannot take
So you do not ship something we would have to send back:
- Animal-origin material: Raw meat, fish, dairy, eggs. We run vegetal material and dry goods.
- Anything shipped from outside the EU: The customs and plant-health paperwork costs more than the test does. Get in touch anyway and we will find another way to answer your question.
- Pharmaceutical or GMP work: Our equipment is food-grade and we do not pretend otherwise.
- Production runs: One cycle, to help you choose a machine. If what you need is product dried repeatedly, tick the box on the form and we will keep your details on file.
Price
We sell the cycle, not the kilo. Four kilos of sliced strawberry fits one chamber load. Four kilos of basil, microgreens or anything light and bulky fills the trays long before it reaches 4 kg. If your material needs a second cycle we tell you before we load anything, and you decide.
Your first cycle: free
One material, up to 4 kg, one chamber load, one report, at no charge for the work. We would rather measure your product than argue about an estimate, and the report is the most useful thing we can put in front of someone deciding on a machine.
- It is a request, not a booking. We confirm we can run your material, and when.
- Subject to our capacity. We run these between customer work, so we give you a real date rather than a promise we cannot keep.
- One free cycle per customer.
- No machine credit on the free cycle.
Paid cycles: €390
A paid cycle buys two things the free one does not: a slot we schedule when you book it rather than when capacity appears, and credit against a machine. Take it if you are on a timeline, or if you already know you are buying and want the fee back.
Additional cycles and additional materials are quoted from the same ladder, and we confirm the cycle count with you before anything is loaded.
| First validation cycle | Free |
|---|---|
| Priority cycle, booked | €390 |
| Each additional cycle, same material | €200 |
| Each additional material | €300 |
Half of what you PAY comes off your machine, up to €1.000 in total against any one machine, if you order within 12 months of the report date. The free cycle earns no credit.
Shipping is not free, in either direction
You pay to send the material to Madrid and to have what is left of it come back, or you arrange your own collection. That holds for the free cycle as much as a paid one. What we give away is the cycle itself.
If your material has to travel frozen, it has to travel frozen. Material that arrives thawed dries differently and the numbers stop meaning anything, so we would rather tell you that before you book a courier than after.
Prices exclude VAT. EU businesses with a valid VAT number are invoiced under reverse charge; VAT is confirmed on the invoice.
How to order
Three ways in, depending on how sure you already are.
Take the free cycle
Fill in the form below. We reply within one business day with whether we can run your material, what condition it has to arrive in, and the date we can hold. Do not ship anything until you have that email.
Go to the form →Book the priority cycle
Add it to your basket and check out. Your slot is scheduled when you book rather than when capacity appears, and half the fee comes back against a machine ordered within 12 months.
Book the €390 cycle →Ask about a bigger programme
More than 4 kg, several materials, or a comparison across machines. Pick the third option on the form and describe what you need; you will have a price and a plan, usually the next business day.
Describe your programme →
Request your free validation cycle
Questions
Can you test more than 4 kg, or more than one material?
Yes, and it is quoted rather than bought online. Fill in the same form, say what you are trying to learn, and you will have a price the next business day.
My product is light and bulky. Does 4 kg mean anything?
Not much, and we would rather say so before you pay. Herbs, leaves and microgreens fill the trays at a fraction of that weight. We work out how many cycles your material needs and confirm the price with you before anything runs.
When does testing stop making sense?
Around €1.500 of it. Half of that comes back as credit, and by then you are inside the price of the smallest compact machine we sell. If your programme is heading there, we will say so in the quote instead of selling you more cycles.
Will you sign an NDA?
Yes. Tick the box on the form and we will send ours before you ship, or sign yours.
Do you publish the results?
No. Nothing about your product leaves us without your written consent, and we do not keep the material afterwards unless you ask us to return it.
What if my product does not freeze-dry well?
Then you have found out for the price of the freight instead of €30.000, and the report tells you why. High-sugar and high-fat materials are hard to dry well, and if yours is one of them we will say so in plain language rather than sell you a machine that will disappoint you.
Why is the first one free? What is the catch?
There is no catch, and there is no obligation. We sell freeze dryers, and the single biggest reason a sale goes wrong is a buyer who guessed at their yield. Measuring your material costs us a cycle and saves both of us a bad decision. The only conditions are the ones on this page: your material has to be something we can run, we have to have the capacity, and you pay the freight.
Who pays the shipping?
You do, both ways, or you arrange your own collection. The cycle is what is free, not the freight. If your material has to travel frozen we tell you before you book anything, because material that arrives thawed produces numbers you cannot use.
Why would I pay €390 when there is a free one?
For a slot on a date rather than when capacity appears, and for the credit: half of what you pay comes off a machine, up to €1.000. If you are working to a deadline or you already know you are buying, the paid cycle is the better trade. If you are still deciding, take the free one.
Can I come and watch?
Yes, by appointment, in Madrid.
How is this different from the ROI calculator?
The calculator estimates from typical composition. This measures your material. If the two disagree, the measurement wins.
Request your free validation cycle
Or, if you are not there yet: