If you’ve ever been to the farmers markets with kids in tow, you’ll be familiar with the Rainbow Fruit Flats stall. With treats like dried fruit ‘rainbows’, real fruit ice blocks and choc-coated frozen strawberries, mangos and bananas, it’s the place every kid wants to visit.

Co-owner Kylie Tomlin says she never tires of seeing eyes light up when they visit her colourful stall: “I love seeing the looks on kids faces,” she said.

The Rainbow Fruit Flats are the main attraction – rainbow-shaped fruit leathers made from dehydrated fruits, with fruit combinations like mango, strawberry, dragonfruit, banana, pineapple and passionfruit making up the rainbow’s stripes.

Unlike the heavily processed fruit ‘roll ups’ you might find in the supermarket snack aisle that are full of added sugar, colours, flavours and preservatives: (“You’d be better off eating the cardboard box,” says Kylie) Rainbow Fruit Flats are 100% fruit, made from uncooked, ripe, pureed fruit, dehydrated at a low temperature (below 45 degrees), so that they retain as much of the fruit’s nutrients as possible. They’re a popular snack at the market, as well as in kid’s lunch boxes. Kylie says a quarter of a rainbow contains the recommended daily serving of fruit for a primary school aged child, so a half one of these is a sensible size for school.

Much of the fruit that goes into the Flats, including the pineapples, mangos, dragonfruit and strawberries, is grown by Kylie and co-owner Steve on their Burringbar farm (they also sell fresh versions of these fruits in season) while other fruit is sourced locally from fellow farmers at the farmers markets.

Local fruit is also used to make Kylie and Steve’s popular 100% frozen fruit ice block and their dairy free dark chocolate coated frozen strawberries, mango cheeks and bananas.

Small snack sized bags of dehydrated fruit (also dried below 45 degrees) and dried tomatoes (great as a pantry staple to throw into a pasta or on pizza) can also be found on Kylie and Steve’s stall.

Kylie says making kids happy is satisfying, but making their parents happy is even better:“ They love that there’s no preservatives, nothing added to it, it’s just pure fruit, and even if their vegetarian or raw vegan or whatever, we cater for all.”