Abdus Sattar has long had a passion for foreign travel. On a trip to China last year, he was inspired by the various food products made from jackfruit. Returning home, he began thinking about adding value to the jackfruit that goes to waste through neglect every year. From that thought, he took the initiative this year to produce jackfruit biscuits on a trial basis — and struck gold with the trial run.
The biscuits, produced on a trial basis this year at the Mohtahina Food factory in Bairagirchala village in the Sreepur municipal area of Gazipur, have drawn a positive response in both online and offline markets. Seeing this demand at the very start of production, Abdus Sattar has planned to increase output further next season.
Abdus Sattar said about 500 jackfruits had been used to make biscuits this season, with each biscuit using about 20 percent jackfruit pulp. This keeps the taste and natural aroma of jackfruit in the biscuit, making it different from conventional biscuits. An 800-gram packet currently sells for 750 taka.
Abdus Sattar said: “I’ve started jackfruit-biscuit production on a limited scale this time. Next season I plan to produce various other food products from jackfruit.”
Sreepur upazila agriculture officer Sumaiya Sultana said: “Such an initiative to increase the versatile use of jackfruit is very positive. About 52 types of food products are now made from jackfruit in the country, and many are being exported abroad. We welcome entrepreneur Abdus Sattar’s initiative, and the agriculture department will give him all technical support if needed.”
Local residents say such value-adding initiatives for seasonal fruit like jackfruit will help ensure fair prices for farmers’ produce, and could open a door to new possibilities for the domestic food industry.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report