As it does every year, PRAN, the country's largest agro-processing company, has begun buying and pulping mangoes this season to make mango drinks, juice, mango bars and other foods.

The procurement and pulping programme was launched on 1 June at PRAN Agro Limited's factories at the Barind Industrial Park in Godagari, Rajshahi, and at Ekdala in Natore. PRAN has set a target of collecting 50,000 tonnes of mangoes this year.

Rokonuzzaman Rubel, assistant general manager of the Barind Industrial Park (BIP) in Godagari, Rajshahi, said mangoes are being collected from Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Natore, Naogaon, Dinajpur, Thakurgaon, Meherpur, Jhenaidah, Satkhira and other districts. Guti mangoes will be collected first, then Ashwina. Procurement and pulping will continue until August, subject to the supply of mangoes.

Kamruzzaman Kamal, marketing director of PRAN-RFL Group, said mango yields are lower this year than at other times. "Even so, we have set a target of collecting about 50,000 tonnes of mangoes. We give the highest priority to raw materials so that consumers can have fruit drinks or juice made from top-quality pulp. That is why we are sourcing from regions famous for mangoes."

He added that the mangoes are being pulped at the factory in modern machines by a fully aseptic process, without any human touch. Because the aseptic process preserves the pulp without any preservatives, it stays usable for up to two years, and mango juice, drinks and mango bars are produced from the stored pulp all year round. Mango fruit drinks and juice made from these mangoes are exported to 145 countries.

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