Mango also reigns in the juice-drink market

At present, industrial groups like Pran, Akij, Cezanne, Partex, Acme, Abul Khair, Transcom, and Globe produce and sell juice and fruit drinks under different brand names. Apart from mango, several companies have different fruit juices and drinks, including pineapple, guava, apple, orange, and lemon. The juice was once sold only in glass bottles, but now plastic bottles and Treta packs have become quite popular. The products are available from the city to the shops in the village.

Only juice was sold in the country 9 years ago. Currently, the exact opposite. In June 2012, BSTI set new standards for juices and drinks. We then required fruit juices to contain at least 6 percent of the fruit’s natural ingredients (fruit pulp). And fruit drinks or beverages should contain at least 10 percent natural ingredients. Under previous standards, they required fruit juices to contain 25 percent natural ingredients and drink 10 percent. All but the company is currently producing fruit drinks because of the new BSTI standards.

Officials of several mango juice companies said that they bought ripe mangoes from contract farmers and hats in North Bengal during the mango season. An automatic machine then picked and washed the mangoes in hot water. Then mango pulp is made. The pulp is mixed with water, sugar, and beta carotene to make drinks and marketed in glass and plastic bottles or treat packs. Most companies use 10-25 percent pulp in their brand of mango drinks.

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Pran is the leading company in the market of fruit juices and drinks in the country. According to the organization, the founder of Pran, the late Major General (Red.) Amjad Khan Chowdhury started contract cultivation of vegetables and fruits in the Narsingdi area in the early nineties. But he got into trouble while marketing them. Because so they produce many products during the season that prices are not available. Then he started marketing pineapple sugar cans. He then went into juice production. Using that experience, he brought equipment from abroad to make mango pulp. Pran started marketing mango juice in 1992.

In the beginning, they made the juice of life in the factory of Narsingdi. They brought the juice in a truck to the warehouse in Shapur. From there they marketed it in different areas of Dhaka. However, it takes four to five years to popularize mango juice. Pran used to produce pulp in non-aseptic technology. They used preservatives in it. At present, they produce pulp aseptically. It does not use preservatives.

With this information, Kamruzzaman Kamal, Director (Marketing) of PRAN-RFL Group, said, ‘Mango juice first came to the country’s market through the hands of our founder, the late Amjad Khan Chowdhury. At first, however, consumers did not want to believe that bottled mango juice. The shopkeepers didn’t want to keep it either. Then we would come in empty Pepsi-Fanta case with two or four mango juices. Then an advertisement was made. Consumers ate curiously once or twice and saw that the thing was not bad. Thus mango juice gradually became popular all over the country.

Despite leading the juice and beverage market in the country, Pran is doing more business in foreign markets than him. Officials of the company said that in 2019, Pran exported  62 million worth of juices and drinks. The following year it declined because of the corona. Even then, 50 million worth of juices and drinks have been exported. I exported although different fruit juices and drinks; I am more.

The Frutica brand of Akij Foods and Beverages is a well-known name in the juice and beverage market. They have mango and orange and grape drinks. Syed Alamgir, group managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Akij Ventures, told Perth Alo: “We are using aseptic technology to produce mango pulp. The technology has been brought in by investing tremendous amounts of money to maintain the right quality of drinks. However, consumers do not have to pay extra for it.