Home ›› 18 Dec 2021 ›› Front
In today’s fast-paced life, one hardly gets enough time to cook elaborate dishes using home ground spices – and this is where ready-mix spices come in.
Around 10 local companies are flooding the market with various ready-mix spices for as many as 30 different dishes, offering what they claim ‘satisfactory taste’ at affordable prices. The popular spice blends are chicken, beef, fish, biryani, tehari, haleem, noodles, kabab, and roast.
Square Food and Beverage Ltd, PRAN-RFL Group, ACI Foods Limited, Lalmai Food Products Ltd, and BD Food are the leading market players.
PRAN-RFL’s Director of Marketing Kamruzzaman Kamal said they hold the second position with 10 per cent market share. “Our meat, biryani and haleem spices are the best selling products,” he said.
“We estimate the annual market size to be around Tk 300 crore and it’s growing 10-12 per cent per annum,” he told The Business Post without giving elaborate data. He said growing per capita income, urbanisation and changing lifestyle are the driving factors behind this growth. “The city people are busy with jobs and have little free time. So, they’re opting for ready-mix spices,” he said.
Fazle Rabbi, senior marketing officer at ACI, said that they hold 12 per cent market share with 30 products. He said they source 80 per cent of their raw materials from the local market to ensure quality.
Many consumers said they consider making spice mix at home a hassle since they are too busy with work. Some people said they used ready-mix spice for taste and tried out various recipes at home.
Monir Hossain, living in Chawkbazar of Dhaka, said that he was busy with his study and could hardly take out time to cook. “Using ready-mix spices saves time and allows me to continue my studies uninterrupted,” he said, noting that although he had no complaints about the taste, he was worried about product quality.
The popularity of ready-mix spice has encouraged more local companies to venture into the market. Recently, Bashundhara and Meghna groups launched their products.
Square’s Radhuni is the most dominant brand in the ready-mix spice market. Syed Junayedul Haque, Brand Manager, Square Food and Beverage Ltd, said that people are switching to packaged spices as they are becoming aware of the harmful impact of unpackaged spices. “Radhuni, being the market leader, is getting the lion’s share of spice market. Radhuni currently has 30 ready-mix products in the market and enjoys healthy growth in the segment,” he told The Business Post.
He said people are switching to ready-mix spices as they are cheap and convenient. “Ready-mix spice can give you a good taste at a low cost and it eradicates the need to know of how much spice to put in a dish as the measurement is already given,” he said.
Homemade spice mix becoming popular
Meanwhile, homemade spice mixes have created a niche market among health-conscious consumers, encouraging people, particularly women, to float small online businesses.
Parvin Akter, one such entrepreneur from Faridpur, said she recently ventured into the market. “My quality products are attracting the health-conscious people. I collect raw materials directly from farmers,” she said.
Mohammad Rubel, an entrepreneur from Cumilla, said the ‘taste of home’ and quality pushed up the demand.
“I earn around Tk 20,000 every month,” he said.
Challenges remain
Stakeholders identified the rising cost of raw materials and high import tax as key challenges.
While PRAN-RFL’s Kamal said they had to raise the price as the raw materials’ cost rose globally, ACI’s Rabbi said they kept their prices unchanged.
“Many people involved in this business don’t maintain quality and endanger public health. Policy regulations are a must,” Rabbi said.
Rubaiya Akter, a banker from Lalbagh, said that she uses mixed spices in dishes to increase taste and flavour.
“The taste of homemade spices is definitely good but I think ready-mix spices boost the flavour,” she said. “I had to go to restaurants to have biryani but now I can make it – and many other dishes – easily at home thanks to ready-mix spices.”
