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Processed food exports rise 41 pc

Sohel Parvez
Agro-processed food exports rose 41.04 percent to $28.11 million in the July-January period of the current fiscal year, backed by competitive prices and upmarket buyers’ shift to ethnic snacks as recession squeezes pockets of the consumers in the western economies.
Expanded market coverage of some food processors also helped maintain their export growth, exporters said.
“Price is the main factor. Many supermarket buyers are shifting from expensive food items to cheaper foods as their income shrinks amid recession," said ME Dowla, managing director for Eurasia Food (Bd) Ltd.
“A section of consumers who preferred shopping at supermarkets is now showing interests to our products because we offer lower prices," said the MD for Eurasia that exports such ethnic foods as frozen parata, singara, dal puri and vegetables mainly to the UK market.
Dowla termed the latest trend of upmarket consumers' shift to Bangladeshi frozen snacks as an opportunity to carve a niche in the European mainstream market.
"Now we should try to make them habituated to these foods,” he said.
Thanks to the exporters' continuous drive to explore market that now expands from the Gulf to African regions, agro-export basket is now filled with many diversified products such as potato flakes, soft drinks, spices and various dry and frozen snacks.
Bangladesh also exports processed foods to Japan, North America and Australia.
"We are strengthening our marketing capacity. Quality and competitive prices contribute to such rise in exports," said Raju Ahmed, general secretary of Bangladesh Agro Processors' Association.
But some exporters of dry snacks and spices said they now iecl the pinch of a
slowdown in exports to the markets such as Canada and Japan as the financial crisis erodes the consumers' purchasing capacity in those rich countries.
However overall exports increased although exporters lagged far behind their targets.
In the July-January peiiod of fiscal year 2008-09, processed food exporters
fetched $28.11 million, up from $19.93 million in the same period a year ago, according to Export Promotion Bureau.
Exports of processed foods surged 77.20 percent to $40.65 million in FY2007-08 from $22.94 million a year ago.
"We are receiving good responses from a number of markets where we entered earlier. We have* increased our
sales volume and expanded distribution network along with offering products at competitive prices," said Kamruzzaman Kamal, executive director of marketing for Pran-RFL Group, one of the leading exporters.
Kamal said the company is yet to feel the pinch of recession as it exports products including beverages and fruit drinks mainly to the Gulf and African countries.
"Till date we are well off," he said.
Khurshid Ahmad Farhad, manager (export) for Square Consumer Products that exports mainly spices and dry snacks, said exports grew compared to the previous year.
He however expressed concerns that achieving export target might be tough this year on recession.
“The coming days may not be good," he said, adding that devaluation of currencies in export markets against the taka will affect earnings.
sohel@tliedailyslar.nel