Covid leaves city betel leaf trade in shreds

The raging pandemic has brought betel leaf trade to its knees, with traders incurring a huge loss day in and day out.

A good number of consumers now refrain from consuming betel leaves because of coronavirus fear, thus leading the city traders to face a dire state. 

According to the traders, their business volume has almost dropped by 50 per cent compared to that in the pre-pandemic period.

Different sizes of 80-leaf bundles were sold at between Tk 80 and Tk 150 just before the pandemic but now they are being sold at Tk 60-Tk 80, badly frustrating the growers too, they added.

There are varieties of betel leaves, popularly known as Paan, such as Shahi Paan, Misty Paan, Maheshkhali Paan, and some based on regions like Rajshahi Paan, Barishal Paan, etc. 

However, the betel leaves from Rajshahi are the most popular among consumers. 

The wholesalers bring betel leaves from Barishal and Rajshahi to Sadarghat in Dhaka, a hub where betel leaves are stored to distribute among suppliers across the city and its adjoining areas. 

While talking to The Business Post, Sabuj Gazi, a retailer from one of the most crowded kitchen markets Karwan Bazar, said, “The charm of this business has gone with the advent of coronavirus as we are losing our business.”

“Every day, I open my shops at 6am in the morning and keep it open till late night but the turnout of customers is still very negligible, '' he added.

“Earlier, I used to sell 500 to 600 bira of betel leaves every day, but now my regular sale has gone down to 200 to 280 bira per day,” Gazi added.

Like Sabuj Gazi, there are around 8-9 betel leaf sellers in Karwan Bazar though the number of such traders was a bit higher before.

Incurring continuous loss in their trade, most traders have already quit their old betel leaf trade only to switch to other professions though all betel leaf sellers used to do their business as a team without any competition among themselves.

It was seen that customers mostly aged between 35 and 55 visit the shops to purchase betel leaves. In rare cases, a very few youths also come to buy betel leaf either for themselves or for their senior family members.

A customer named Mishkat, 22, said, “I come to this shop to buy betel leaves twice a week for my grandmother. As we originally hail from Barishal, my grandmother is very much fond of BarishalPaan.”

Another betel leaf seller Anisul Haque said, “Though I have been the owner of this Paan-supari shop for long, I am now working alone without any helping hands as I don’t have the ability to pay any worker at the moment.”

“Many regular paan consumers have given up their habits fearing Covid-19 infection,” a Paan trader at Shaninagar told The Business Post.

“I had to give up my habit as my doctor advised me to boost immunity for the sake of avoiding any kind of disease like coronavirus,” said Sohel, a consumer.

Consequently, more than 100 to 200 biras of betel leaves are rotten every week and the sellers now even dare not bring new stocks fearing further loss in the wake of lesser customers.

According to the betel leaf farmers, the production of betel leaves is also very low now as the dry winter season is approaching while it needs the rainy season to get better yield. 

“Apart from that, we also faced a huge loss in the last two years as most betel leaves were rotten or damaged simply in our orchards in the wake of transportation crisis during the government enforced countrywide lockdowns or restrictions to contain the virus,” explained the traders.