Change in lifestyle popularises hotpots among office goers

Changing lifestyle in both urban and rural areas is making hotpot, a utensil used to keep food warm, popular among commoners and the locally made ones are in more demand for a comparatively low price.

Once the market was completely dependent on imported brands but now about 12 local companies are showcasing the home brands in their outlets.

People use hotpots to keeping their food warm for long and conveniently serve fresh on time. The use of hotpot is getting popular as it saves time and spares people from reheating food before serving.

Nur Nahar was buying a hotpot at New Super Market in Dhaka. She said that hotpot became as crucial as refrigerators in urban lifestyle. “It has become a part and parcel of our daily life. “I have bought two hotpots — one for my child to carry food to school and another one for household use. It allows us to enjoy a hot meal long after it was cooked,” she said.

Usually, hotpot was used for carrying food by office-goers and students but nowadays it became a household item.

A hotpot is an insulated airtight container that keeps the food warm for six to eight hours preserving the heat in the insulator all around the box.

There are different brands of hotpot in the market such as Kiam, Gazi, RFL, Miyako, Milton, Dream Pot, Taj, Holy Plastic, Zebra, Diamond, Sunshine featuring different sizes ranging between 500ml to 17,000ml depending on brands. A 6,000ml size hotpot is suitable for everyday use by a family of four members.

The price of Kiam hotpots ranges between Tk 500 and Tk 1,500 depending on size, Gazi hotpot price ranges between Tk 400 and Tk 800, RFL hotpots cost from Tk 260 to Tk 650, said the retailers.

Price of imported Milton brand hotpots range between Tk 900 and Tk 2,500 and Miyako hotpots are available from Tk 800 to Tk 3,200, they added.

The retailers said manufacturers of Kiam hotpot claim that their products keep food warm for six to eight hours and imported Milton hotpots keep food warm for up to 12 hours.

Milan Hossain, owner of Miraj and Brothers at New Super Market, said that hotpot sells well round the year but the demand peaks in winter.

Milan said imported Milton brand hotpot is more popular among high-income people and it is a bit pricy than other brands. This brand is popular among women as it offers different sizes up to 17,000ml, he said.

Another trader Titu Khan, owner of Khan Crockeries, said that he sells three brands of hotpot — Kiam, Milton, and Winner as customers first want Kiam and Milton brands and then go for others. The price of the local Kiam brand is reasonable, said Titu.

Demand for hotpots is also high at the posh Bashundhara City Shopping Mall. Delowar Hossain, the owner of Sharmin Electronics, said that

he used to sell 30 to 35 pieces of hotpot a day and the demand remained higher during winter. After the Covid-19 outbreak, the sales dropped to 10 to 15 pieces a day.

Kiam’s additional general manager for marketing Muhammad Haider said, “Kiam Industries Limited is the largest kitchenware manufacturer in Bangladesh and is producing all types of cooking utensils.

“We ensure hundred per cent quality of our products. As the price is reasonable, our products are selling high,” said Haider. He said both production and sales of Kiam products are increasing because of the high demand.

PRAN-RFL Group’s marketing director Kamruzzman Kamal said that once hotpot was used as mere tiffin carriers for office-goers and students. But changing lifestyle of people increased its demand for household use. Kamruzzman said that the sale of RFL’s hotpot was increasing but they had no specific data of its market growth.