Grameen Jibon: A business born from soil, memory, and the scent of home

It was just a phone call, a few simple words:

"The taste of your palm jaggery reminded me of my mother."

Plain and unassuming, yet for Sheikh Masud Parvez, those words ignited a quiet revolution. In that instant, business stopped being mere profit and loss and became something far more meaningful.

Masud once drifted endlessly across oceans. A marine engineer by profession, he spent years aboard ships, travelling the world and earning well. Yet, something gnawed at him.

"I felt like a lotus leaf," he recalls, "adrift, untethered."

The anchor he sought wasn't at sea, but in the fertile, water-laced lands of his childhood village in Satkhira – among mango orchards and freshwater ponds.

Four and a half years ago, he quit his job and returned to his village. There, he planted the first seed of Grameen Jibon – a modest venture rooted in the belief in tradition.

With rising domestic and global demand for natural, chemical-free products, Masud saw an opportunity. His earliest customers were shipmates, who quickly embraced the quality and purity.

Buoyed by this success, he expanded his products.

Grameen Jibon didn't start with a grand blueprint. It began with personal savings, sleepless nights, and cautious optimism. 

Masud avoided hasty loans, reinvesting profits to acquire small machinery and build a workflow that honoured both tradition and quality.

Today, the company employs nine full-time staff, operates a warehouse in Patkelghata, and serves customers across 29 districts. From grinding mustard seeds to bottling honey, every step is overseen by Masud himself.

Reflecting on that pivotal call, he says, "That one message meant more to me than any promotion ever could."

Humble beginnings

The journey started six years ago while Masud still worked at sea. Satkhira's mangoes were gaining fame, yet many traders adulterated the fruit with formalin. 

Determined to offer something pure, Masud bought a mango grove and tended it personally. He sold premium Himsagar mangoes to friends and shipmates, receiving positive but seasonal response.

Winter brought a new challenge: limited supply of date palm juice, essential for making traditional palm jaggery (patali). 

A friend introduced him to Putia in Rajshahi, rich with palm trees. Leasing 500 trees, Masud began producing patali, initially selling within his network. Slowly, demand grew beyond.

Family support, early challenges

Masud's decision faced no opposition at home. His mother and wife valued the joy of his daily presence more than financial certainty.

He invested his own savings, grappling with fear of failure. Yet, once committed, there was no turning back. As business flourished, he took bank loans for equipment, repaying them through relentless hard work.

Expanding the range

Concerned by health risks in widely used oils like soybean and palm, Masud introduced cold-pressed mustard oil – prized for brain and skin benefits but underutilised due to cost and lack of awareness.

Next came honey – a treasured but quality-challenged product in Bangladesh. Masud sourced floral varieties – mustard, lychee, and Sundarbans honey – catering to both consumers and pharmaceutical firms using pure honey in cough syrups. 

Securing a year-long contract with a pharmaceutical company marked a significant milestone.

From there, he ventured into ghee, powdered spices, and coconut oil – which soon became Grameen Jibon's flagship.

Rise of coconut oil

Travel to Sri Lanka during his marine days opened Masud's eyes to widespread coconut oil use in cooking and personal care. 

He researched its many health benefits: boosting immunity, supporting heart health, aiding digestion, and nourishing skin and hair.

High local coconut prices threatened affordability, so Masud sourced coconuts from India's border regions near Benapole and Bhomra, reducing costs and enabling year-round production.

At his Patkelghata facility, workers husk, dry, and cold-press coconuts carefully, preserving purity and aroma. Each bottle of Grameen Jibon coconut oil carries the essence of rural tradition and wellbeing.

Customers have become loyal after noticing health improvements. Word of mouth spread, boosting sales.

Commitment to quality and wider reach

Masud champions cold-press extraction for its superior purity, educating customers on differences with hot-press methods that yield greater volume but compromise quality.

Grameen Jibon markets its products online – through its website, Facebook, and Daraz – alongside 29 dealers nationwide, with courier delivery elsewhere.

For Masud, Grameen Jibon is more than a business – it is a mission to revive rural livelihoods and provide wholesome products nationwide. 

He dreams of scaling production to meet growing domestic demand and eventually exporting Bangladeshi goods globally.