Mehedi Hasan Bondhon of Joypurhat started selling mangoes online as a student. While studying and working in Dhaka, he began in 2018, buying mangoes from Chapainawabganj and selling 5 kg to one customer and 10 kg to another. Over time, that small venture became his profession. After finishing his studies he returned to his village, where the young entrepreneur now runs an online platform called "Rajshahi Organic Foods".

Mehedi Hasan is not alone: through countless young people like him, the country's online fruit business is gradually becoming more popular and promising.

Industry estimates put the number of entrepreneurs selling fruit online at about 20,000. In Chapainawabganj alone, about five to six thousand young men and women are involved in selling mangoes online, and about 400 to 500 tonnes of mangoes are now sold online from the district every day. Some businesses sell as much as 1,000 tonnes of fruit online a year, and some employ at least 50 to 100 people all year round.

Checks on Facebook and other platforms show mangoes and other fruit being sold on countless pages, including Mango Lover, Premium Fruits, Barendra Agro Park, Rajshahi Organic Foods, Nahid's World, Sera Khabar, Moshal Bazar and Helpful Shop Foods. Fruit is also sold in Facebook groups such as "Fruit Wholesale Market". On these pages and groups, various mangoes sell for Tk 100 to Tk 140 a kg. Although different fruits sell at different times, only mangoes are being sold at present, and mangoes are the biggest seller on online pages and groups.

Besides selling fruit online, Mehedi Hasan Bondhon now works as a freelancer. He completed a BSc in computer science and engineering at Dhaka International University.

"I started selling mangoes online as a student in 2018," Mehedi Hasan Bondhon told Jago News. "I used to take mangoes from Chapainawabganj, buying in lots and selling them broken up: 10 kg to one person, 20 kg to another, even 5 kg at a time in Dhaka. In 2022 I moved back to the village. After coming to Chapainawabganj I made contracts with various orchard owners, and now I deliver mangoes from the orchard straight to the buyer. I make a profit of Tk 1.5 to 2 lakh a season, and at least 15 to 20 people get seasonal work with me."

"I sell mangoes at Tk 100 a kg including delivery," he said. "I can sell 200 to 300 maunds of mangoes a year."

Premium Fruits is one of the leading online mango sellers. It began in 2021 selling Rangpur's famous "red-soil Haribhanga mango", and was founded by popular content creator Umme Kulsum Popy and her husband Abu Sayeed Al Sagor.

"We have been selling mango, dragon fruit, malta and other local fruit online for five years," Premium Fruits managing director Abu Sayeed Al Sagor told Jago News. "We now aim to market about 1,000 tonnes of fruit a year, of which mangoes alone account for more than 500 tonnes depending on the season. Depending on production and market conditions, some years we exceed the target and some years we fall a little short."

"About 50 people work regularly with the platform, and another 200 to 250 are involved in various ways in the season," he said. "So the online fruit business has not only opened new ways to market farm produce but has also become a big source of jobs."

Ismail Khan Shamim, general secretary of the Shibganj Mango Producer Co-operative Society in Chapainawabganj and owner of Nawabi Mango, told Jago News: "About 400 to 500 tonnes of mangoes are now sent every day from Chapainawabganj through courier services to e-commerce channels across the country. Last year about 400 tonnes a day were sold online, and this season the amount has risen further."

"By our observation, about 5,000 to 6,000 young men and women in Chapainawabganj alone are involved in selling mangoes online, and about 20,000 young entrepreneurs work in this sector nationwide," he said. "Social media, courier networks and digital payments have made the online fruit business a promising sector."

"Online mango sales have not only created new income for entrepreneurs but also jobs for thousands of people in mango production, collection, packaging, transport and supply," he added. "We are now also focusing on processed mango products, especially dried mango, which will help add value in the country's mango sector."

Md Sohel Rana, an agri-entrepreneur at Barendra Agro Park in Sapahar, Naogaon, told Jago News: "I started a commercial mango farm at the end of 2014. At that time online marketing and courier services were not what they are now. Later I started selling my orchard's mangoes online through Sundarban Courier. Now about 10 per cent of my mangoes, 50 to 60 tonnes depending on the season, are sold online."

"The online mango business has spread widely," he said. "University students in particular are earning well through marketing, even without orchards of their own. The sector has created significant employment, and many young people are getting the chance to establish themselves as seasonal entrepreneurs."

Transport and courier services are still the main obstacle for online fruit sellers. Buyers are inconvenienced when goods do not arrive on time, and sellers fear their fruit will spoil.

"Delays, extra costs and a lack of well-ventilated vehicles in the courier and transport sector damage fruit quality," said Abu Sayeed Al Sagor of Premium Fruits. "Delivering perishable goods like mangoes quickly and safely is the biggest challenge. If transport is modernised, the supply chain improved and export procedures simplified, the online fruit business can contribute far more to the farm economy."

Md Sohel Rana said: "The biggest challenge for the online fruit business is still transport and courier services. Courier companies come under extra pressure in the mango season, but their capacity does not grow accordingly, so deliveries are delayed and mango quality often suffers. Without specialised vehicles and storage for perishable farm produce, as in developed countries, entrepreneurs face losses. If transport is modernised, the online fruit business will expand faster and farmers and entrepreneurs will benefit more."

There are no accurate statistics on how much fruit is sold online in the country.

People in the sector say mangoes worth about Tk 450 to 500 crore are sold online from Chapainawabganj alone in a season. At 450 tonnes a day over the 90-day mango season, 40,500 tonnes could be sold from the area. At an average of Tk 120 a kg, that market is worth about Tk 486 crore, meaning mangoes worth Tk 500 crore a year could be sold online from Chapainawabganj alone. Adding fruit from other regions, the online fruit business could be worth several thousand crore taka.

Mohammad Arifur Rahman, director of the exportable mango production project, told Jago News: "Buying and selling fruit online is becoming more popular in Bangladesh every day. Many honours and master's students in particular are earning from it in their spare time. A single market in Sapahar, Naogaon, alone had transactions of about Tk 4,000 crore in a year, which shows the sector's huge potential. Online fruit sales are creating jobs in courier services, packaging, loading and unloading, and increasing money flows through mobile banking. But because quality control is lacking, consumers often do not get what they expect, so the sector needs proper oversight. If the involvement of young people can be used to organise the online fruit business more commercially, it will become a big industry in future."

Mohammad Shahab Uddin, former senior vice-president of the e-commerce traders' association e-CAB, told Jago News: "During the coronavirus pandemic, mango growers faced a major crisis marketing their produce. At that time an effective ecosystem for selling fruit online was built with ministries, business associations and other stakeholders. The positive impact of that initiative is visible today, and a large share of the country's mangoes is now sold through online platforms."

"Many small entrepreneurs and students now sell fruit online in the season, which gives them work," he said. "Online fruit sales are also improving local delivery, packaging and storage. Entrepreneurs are gaining skills that will help expand export markets in future. I think there is scope to greatly increase exports of mangoes and other fruit from Bangladesh by using this experience and infrastructure."

Online fruit marketing, which began during the pandemic, has created a new source of income for seasonal entrepreneurs and is increasing jobs in packaging, courier, transport and digital payments. But people in the sector say it will be hard to make full use of this potential without better transport and storage.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.