Juice-makers double mango purchase as demand surges at home, abroad
Sunday, 31 May 2009
Jasim Uddin Haroon
Juice-makers would nearly double purchase of mango and its pulp from local farmers this season amid a massive expansion of Bangladesh-made fruit beverage market both at home and abroad, company officials said Saturday.
Pran, the country's leading agro-processing company, is leading the drive, doubling its mango procurement from the farmers in the mango-belt in the north-west while other companies are buying pulp made of the fruit.
The companies said mango juice is fast becoming their top selling products in the country, growing at over 20 per cent rate year-on-year as they make foray in markets outside the main cities and top district towns.
"We will buy 30,000 tonnes of mango from our enlisted farmers and others this season. The amount is nearly the double we procured last year," chief executive of Pran-RFL group Amjad Khan Chowdhury told FE.
Pran has the country's lone mango pulp and processing plant at Natore. The company now controls 60 per cent of Bangladesh's organised mango juice market worth more than Tk3.00 billion a year.
Mr. Chowdhury said Pran mango juice has also won hearts in scores of Asian and African nations, forcing the company to ramp up production every year.
"Last year we had to import mango pulp from Pakistan to cope with surging demand. We did not foresee that our product would gain foothold abroad in such a quick time," he said.
Abul Khair Company, which markets Starship juice in the country, said it would procure mango pulp from the local producers in Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Natore and Naogaon districts.
Starship general manager Shah Newaz said they see a "major growth" in their local procurement, although he declined to give actual figures due to the company's policy that bars divulging any data.
"Bangladesh juice market is expanding fast as people in the rural areas also favour juice over soft drinks," he said. "We see growth in areas where we haven't even thought of."
Partex, Shejan, Acme, Abdul Monem Limited and BD food, who sell juice and mango bars, have also said that they would increase mango procurement by 'a minimum double digit' rate to cater to growing demand of their products.
"We have already started buying mango pulps from the domestic market. We have seen that local mango pulps are as good as those from India and Pakistan," said Bishnu Bhattacharya, general manager of Shejan.
Akij, the country's fastest growing beverage company, would not buy any pulps from local sources, but is planning to set up a state-of-the-art mango pulp and processing plant in North Bengal within a year.
"We maintain a very stringent quality control at our juice plant. That's why we don't trust local pulp makers as they use harmful preservatives," said Mohammad Tusher, a general manager of Akij Beverage
"We'll start procuring mango from domestic market in a massive way only after we set up our own pulp processing plant," he added.
Juice-makers would nearly double purchase of mango and its pulp from local farmers this season amid a massive expansion of Bangladesh-made fruit beverage market both at home and abroad, company officials said Saturday.
Pran, the country's leading agro-processing company, is leading the drive, doubling its mango procurement from the farmers in the mango-belt in the north-west while other companies are buying pulp made of the fruit.
The companies said mango juice is fast becoming their top selling products in the country, growing at over 20 per cent rate year-on-year as they make foray in markets outside the main cities and top district towns.
"We will buy 30,000 tonnes of mango from our enlisted farmers and others this season. The amount is nearly the double we procured last year," chief executive of Pran-RFL group Amjad Khan Chowdhury told FE.
Pran has the country's lone mango pulp and processing plant at Natore. The company now controls 60 per cent of Bangladesh's organised mango juice market worth more than Tk3.00 billion a year.
Mr. Chowdhury said Pran mango juice has also won hearts in scores of Asian and African nations, forcing the company to ramp up production every year.
"Last year we had to import mango pulp from Pakistan to cope with surging demand. We did not foresee that our product would gain foothold abroad in such a quick time," he said.
Abul Khair Company, which markets Starship juice in the country, said it would procure mango pulp from the local producers in Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Natore and Naogaon districts.
Starship general manager Shah Newaz said they see a "major growth" in their local procurement, although he declined to give actual figures due to the company's policy that bars divulging any data.
"Bangladesh juice market is expanding fast as people in the rural areas also favour juice over soft drinks," he said. "We see growth in areas where we haven't even thought of."
Partex, Shejan, Acme, Abdul Monem Limited and BD food, who sell juice and mango bars, have also said that they would increase mango procurement by 'a minimum double digit' rate to cater to growing demand of their products.
"We have already started buying mango pulps from the domestic market. We have seen that local mango pulps are as good as those from India and Pakistan," said Bishnu Bhattacharya, general manager of Shejan.
Akij, the country's fastest growing beverage company, would not buy any pulps from local sources, but is planning to set up a state-of-the-art mango pulp and processing plant in North Bengal within a year.
"We maintain a very stringent quality control at our juice plant. That's why we don't trust local pulp makers as they use harmful preservatives," said Mohammad Tusher, a general manager of Akij Beverage
"We'll start procuring mango from domestic market in a massive way only after we set up our own pulp processing plant," he added.