Living by selling half-rotten fruits  | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
June 14, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 2025
Living by selling half-rotten fruits 

Panorama

Faijullah Wasif
27 April, 2021, 10:55 am
Last modified: 27 April, 2021, 12:19 pm

Related News

  • Rajshahi farmers predict bumper litchi production
  • NBR cuts source tax on fresh fruit imports to 5%
  • Importers to halt fruit clearance at ports for two days over VAT, duty hike
  • Ctg customs to destroy 4,00,000kg imported fruits worth Tk70 lakh due to low auction prices
  • 3-day National Fruit Fair to begin Thursday

Living by selling half-rotten fruits 

Suma sells fruits in an alley of Bou Bazar kitchen market adjacent to Korail slum

Faijullah Wasif
27 April, 2021, 10:55 am
Last modified: 27 April, 2021, 12:19 pm
Suma's fruit business does not always guarantee a profit. Photo: Faijullah Wasif 
Suma's fruit business does not always guarantee a profit. Photo: Faijullah Wasif 

Suma Khatun, a mother of three, lives at Korail slum in the capital's Bou Bazar neighbourhood. 

As the sole breadwinner of her family, she has taken up a unique business – buying half-rotten fruits from the high-end fruit shops in the city, salvaging the better fruits from her collection and selling them to low-income buyers in the slums.

"I've bought these fruits from a shop in Gulshan at a cheap rate. I will sell them throughout the day," Suma told this correspondent on Saturday.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Suma trades in an alley adjacent to the Bou Bazar fish market. Asked why she chose this business, she said there was no other way for her to make an earning. Her whole family's survival depends on it.

Her husband has left her and the children after marrying someone else, she claimed. She has lost touch with her parents as well. 

"I used to work as a housemaid. I also worked as a day labourer. But now that I don't have that opportunity, I have settled in this business," she said.

Suma further added that she invested Tk700 on the day. Of this, she bought grapes worth Tk500, while the remaining Tk200 was used to buy oranges, apples and tangerine. She hoped to earn a profit of Tk150- 200 by selling those fruits.

She was dealing with customers while speaking to this correspondent. As a customer came to buy 500 grams of grapes, she set the asking price at Tk120 per kg. After two rounds of bargaining, the buyer bought half a kilogram of grapes for Tk50.

Suma could not provide a good answer to the question of whether these fruits have any health risks. She did not seem to be too concerned about it either.

"This is how my family is surviving. I can feed the children. That's the big deal. We are poor people. If we think too much, our stomach will stop filling up," she said.

The mother of three said her husband is irresponsible and has stopped inquiring about their well-being.

"My husband has married someone else and lives with her in the village. Far from taking responsibility for taking care of us in Dhaka, he does not even inquire about us," Suma said.

Photo: Faijullah Wasif 
Photo: Faijullah Wasif 

Suma also said she has not talked to her father for a long time.

"In the struggle of life, I have forgotten almost everything now. I have married off the eldest of my two daughters. But, I am in peril about marrying off my youngest one."

Looking at her eight-year-old son Ramzan Ali, she said, "He's my last hope. I'm hoping the boy will understand my grief when he grows up. Besides, there is no other recourse. There is no way back to my parents either."

Ramzan studies in the Najrana department of the local Darul Uloom Karaul Madrasa. Even though he lives in the madrasa, he has to eat at home.

"I come to the market every day to help my mother," he said.

Suma's fruit business does not always guarantee a profit. There are days when she is forced to sell fruits at lower prices than she originally bought them at.

"If I got the opportunity at a good job, I would do it. It would be enough if it supports the expenses of our food and rent. This business has both profits and losses. I am in peril if I fail to sell the fruits by the end of the day. These fruits cannot be preserved, meaning I am forced to sell them at a lower price than I bought them at," she said.

"If I sell fruits at a lower price than they were originally bought at, there is that fear of not being able to extract even my investment. I have to pay rent for this place for selling fruits here. I can pay the rent on days when there is a good sale. On other days, I ask for it to be waived," she added.

However, with the fruit shops in Gulshan closed during the ongoing lockdown, Suma can now buy some better fruits at lower prices. Better fruits are easier to sell. 

Also, she has hooked a few regular buyers by now.

Features / Top News

fruit / Korail

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Missiles launched from Iran are seen from Jerusalem, June 13, 2025. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
    Iran fires missiles at Israel in response to attacks; Trump says it's not too late for nuclear deal
  • Logo of National Citizen Party (NCP)
    People won't accept election date before July Charter is implemented: NCP on Yunus-Tarique meeting
  • Yunus-Tarique meeting: Jamaat says outcome positive for democracy, IAB says dispelled uncertainty from politics
    Yunus-Tarique meeting: Jamaat says outcome positive for democracy, IAB says dispelled uncertainty from politics

MOST VIEWED

  • Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner showing part of its registration "VT-ANB" in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave
    Air India Dreamliner crashes into Ahmedabad college hostel, kills over 290
  • File Photo of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus: UNB
    Prof Yunus to receive Harmony Award from King Charles today
  • Energy adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan with other government officials during a visit to Sylhet gas field on 13 June 2025. Photo: TBS
    I would disconnect gas supply to every home in Dhaka if I could: Energy adviser
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Bangladesh mulls settlements with tycoons over offshore wealth: BB governor tells FT
  • UCB declares no dividend for 2024 to comply with regulatory requirement
    UCB declares no dividend for 2024 to comply with regulatory requirement
  • UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus
    Disclosure of unconfirmed Yunus-Starmer meeting shows ‘diplomatic imprudence’: Analysts

Related News

  • Rajshahi farmers predict bumper litchi production
  • NBR cuts source tax on fresh fruit imports to 5%
  • Importers to halt fruit clearance at ports for two days over VAT, duty hike
  • Ctg customs to destroy 4,00,000kg imported fruits worth Tk70 lakh due to low auction prices
  • 3-day National Fruit Fair to begin Thursday

Features

Photos: Collected

Kurtis that make a great office wear

8h | Mode
Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

2d | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

3d | Features
File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

4d | Features

More Videos from TBS

No Cash in ATMs: System Glitch or Something Deeper?

No Cash in ATMs: System Glitch or Something Deeper?

2h | TBS Today
Iran-Israel military power; who is ahead?

Iran-Israel military power; who is ahead?

4h | TBS World
Did the possibility of an Iran nuclear deal set back after the attack?

Did the possibility of an Iran nuclear deal set back after the attack?

6h | TBS World
IRGC chief Major General Hossein Salami killed in Israeli strike

IRGC chief Major General Hossein Salami killed in Israeli strike

7h | TBS World
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net