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Bangladesh most profitable unit
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also expanded its Studio X international male grooming range with the launch of skin cream and pocket perfumes. Currently, Bangladesh is the most profitable unit of Marico’s international business.
With the economy showing resilience amidst the second and third waves of the covid-19 pandemic and the government’s prudent measures in the form of movement restrictions and vaccination efforts, the company is hopeful about delivering profit growth for its shareholders in the upcoming financial year of 2021-22.
DS: What are the potential and challenges of the fast-moving consumer goods market in Bangladesh?
Ashish Goupal: Our experience in Bangladesh has been a positive one and we are proud advocates of Bangladesh as an investment destination. We believe in Bangladesh’s potential and are hence investing a further Tk 227 crore in the Mirsarai SEZ.
Bangladesh has business-friendly policies which is reflected in the growth of the economy. The government has also strongly driven efforts of digitalisation and technology, which will go a long way in enhancing the Ease of Doing Business. If the government’s vision of creating an economy backed by digital governance can be executed fast, it will give the country a cutting-edge advantage.
Digitalisation simplifies several procedural hurdles and eases backlogs, such as obtaining various approvals or business licences, brings transparency to revenue collection and allows for resources to be deployed in a more constructive manner. Bangladesh is already competing with other Asian and African countries, not only in terms of attracting investment but also competing in terms of capability, technology and intellectual capital, and digitalisation is a key catalyst to the growth.
My three recommendations would be ensuring continuous open and responsive dialogue with the industry, ensuring clarity and consistency in the application of government regulations and policies, and accelerating digital economy and governance.
It is imperative that we sustain the digital transformation and access to government machinery that we have witnessed during the pandemic as the government agencies extended their whole-hearted support to ensure business continuity while maintaining safety measures.
DS: What is your plan for protecting the environment and reducing the use of plastic or carbon emissions?
Ashish Goupal: Marico, as a group, has always aimed to spearhead efforts to grow and foster sustainability through its operations. As part of Marico group, Marico Bangladesh adheres to a unified strategic framework on sustainability, the key elements of which include waste management, water management, energy efficiency, product responsibility and sustainable sourcing.
Our factory operations have already initiated efforts to implement 3R (reduce, reuse and recycle) in the production process, introducing mechanisms for reusing plastic and solid waste. Our Shirirchala operations are currently zero discharge operations, and we aim to make it a completely sustainable factory by 2023 by recycling and reusing our own by-products and waste in our production. Moreover, our SEZ operations will be completely sustainable as well.
We hope that going forward, we will be able to collaborate with the government and industry on a sustainable and shared manner of ensuring extended producer responsibility and innovating to reduce virgin plastic waste generation and reduce our carbon footprint as a company.
DS: What is your plan for product diversification?
Ashish Goupal: Marico Bangladesh has expanded and diversified its product range significantly over the past few years. Even during the pandemic, we launched our Mediker SafeLife+ international hygiene range. We introduced Saffola Honey into our food range. We have expanded our core business in hair oils and have also forayed further into hair care and skincare with our Parachute Naturale range of shampoos and Parachute SkinPure range of skincare products.
We have also seen a gap in safe baby care products and responded by launching our Parachute Just For Baby range comprising lotion, oils, soap, shampoo, wash, face cream, rash cream and baby toothpaste. Since Parachute Just For Baby is certified Made Safe (by Safe Cosmetics Australia) and has 100 per cent safe ingredients like neem, olive, and almond, this range has built prompt equity among consumers.
We have also introduced our international styling brand Studio X into the market, which has a complete range of international quality grooming and styling products specifically catered to men. It includes shampoo, face wash, hair gel and deos.
We are focused on growing our core business as well as strengthening our foothold in the newer categories we have entered. We are committed to delivering growth that will benefit all stakeholders in our ecosystem.

Potato growers
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for consumption or late sale. After the mentioned duration, the tubers start sprouting, Hai said.
Mangalu Barman of Chutbathina village in Thakurgaon sadar upazila said he cultivated potato on one acre of land to produced 350 sacks of the crop weighing 55 kilogrammes each.
He could preserve only twenty sacks of potatoes while the rest was sold for Tk 9 per kilogramme, which was a loss. If he kept the spud in a cold storage for a month or two, he could have gotten higher prices.
Taking advantage of the shortage of storage space, traders and hoarders who booked storage’s space earlier are buying potatoes for between Tk 7 and Tk 9 per kilogramme, Barman said.