PRAN begins mango collection

PRAN, the country's largest agro-processing company, has launched its seasonal mango collection and pulping activities to produce mango drink, juice, mango bar and other food products throughout the year.  

Eleash Mridha, managing director of PRAN Group, inaugurated the mango collection and pulping activities at the PRAN's Barind industrial park in Godagari, Rajshahi yesterday (19 May), reads a press release. 

This year, PRAN plans to collect 60,000 tonnes of mangoes from its contract farmers and process them into pulp. 

In addition to Rajshahi factory, the company is also operating mango collection and pulping activities at PRAN Agro Limited factory in Ekdala, Natore.
 
To ensure the collection of high-quality pulp, PRAN is sourcing mangoes from 12,000 contractual farmers across key mango-producing districts including Rajshahi, Natore, Chapainawabganj, Naogaon, Dinajpur, Meherpur, Kushtia, Pabna, Sirajganj, and Satkhira. 

The mangoes are collected directly from their garden and taken to the factory for pulp production.
 
PRAN mainly collects the best varieties of Guti and Ashwina mangoes from these farmers for pulp production. To ensure good yields, PRAN provides training and various forms of assistance to the farmers throughout the year. Due to the commercial viability of these mango varieties, farmers in these districts have increasingly started cultivating Guti and Ashwina mangoes.

Once the mangoes are collected from the farmers, they go through several processing stages to make pulp. First, the ripeness of the mangoes is checked, and they are inspected for pests, diseases, or rot. Then the mangoes are sent to the laboratory to ensure they are free from harmful substances. After that, the pulp is produced using automated machines and stored at cold storage using aseptic bags to use round the year.

The stored pulp is then transported to the juice and fruit drink manufacturing facilities, where PRAN's mango fruit drinks and juices are made using advanced technology without any human contact. These products are not only sold in the domestic market but also exported to 145 countries worldwide.

About the mango collection activities, Eleash Mridha, said, "To ensure that consumers receive high-quality fruit drinks and juices, we give utmost importance to the raw materials. That's why we have set up factories in mango-rich regions. This makes it easier for farmers to supply their produce to us."

Speaking about the collection process, he added that in first phase, we are purchasing guti mango. After this, we will collect Ashwani varieties until the supply of mango." 

According to industry experts, the domestic market for fruit drinks and juices is worth around BDT 1500 crore, and it is growing at a rate of 10% annually.