Sales of food items go up at DITF

Visitors at the Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF) are buying various food items including biscuits, noodles and fried food, although the overall sales at the fair has not gained the momentum yet, said the traders.

They said one of the main purposes behind participating in the fair is to create their brand, but sale has the highest priority. Still it is not upto the expectation.

“We are participating in the fair for showcasing our new products to the customers. We are selling various bakery items including loaf, biscuit, noodle etc.” said AMM Shamim Kader, in-charge of the pavilion of Fresh Foods Ltd.

“Compared to the previous trade fairs held at Agargaon, here in Purbachal, we are getting only 10 per cent response from the customers,” he added.

Our daily sales are Tk 1 to Tk 1.5 lakh. Among the items, our noodles, chocolates and some baby foods are selling good, said Ahamed Shohel, in-charge of Nestle Bangladesh stall at the fair.

Md Tanvir, a sales officer of AKIJ Foods stall, told The Business Post, “We are offering discounts to the customer on many of our products. Most of the products are new at our stall,” he added.

“The weather condition has comparatively improved in the last few days and the number of visitors has increased resulting in a growth in sales,” he also said.

Talking to The Business Post, Nabisco Biscuit and Bread Assistant Manager (marketing) Tanjilur Rahman said, “Our sales is gradually increasing but not to our expected level. As our pavilion is at a corner of the fair, we are getting our old customers mainly; the number of new customers is few.”

Md Mostofa Kamal, owner of food products seller Safe Trading Corporation, said, “At the initial stage, most of the people came just to visit the fair. However, our sales have increased gradually. I have sold products worth Tk 35,000 on Monday. People are now buying food products.”

“Usually the sales get momentum during the last 10 days. I have a target for selling nearly Tk 1 lakh per day during that period,” he added.

Md Rana came to the fair with his family from Matuail area at Jatrabari in the capital, “We have come to buy some furniture, but the price is so high. So we decided to not buy. We have bought some biscuits and noodles,” he said.

This year, there are 331 stalls and 57 pavilions and mini pavilions at the trade fair. A number of 17 foreign companies from 10 countries, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Turkey, Malaysia, India, Pakistan and South Korea are taking part in the fair.

Like last year, the fair committee has set up a special BRTC bus service from Kuril Bishwa Road to Purbachal to make it easy for visitors to travel.

Apart from a huge parking lot, the exhibition centre on the outskirts of the capital also has an auditorium, conference rooms, restaurant, children’s play area, prayer room, medical booth, guest rooms, built-in public address system and a modern firefighting system.