PRAN, one of the largest agro-processors in the country, is going to procure 20,000 metric tons of tomatoes to manufacture sauce, ketchup, tomato paste and other food items. To meet up the target, the agro processor has started tomato collection from the farmers and pulping activities this season.
This year, PRAN has started collecting and pulping the tomatoes in its Barind (Varendra) Industrial Park in Rajshahi from Monday. Besides PRAN will collect tomatoes through PRAN Agro Ltd factory in Natore from next week.
Sarowar Hossain, General Manager of Barind Industrial Park said, “We are collecting tomatoes from Rajshahi, Natore, Chapai Nawabganj, Dinajpur, Pabna and Naogaon districts. The 10,000 contract farmers of PRAN, cultivated tomato in 2200 bighas of land. Farmers can be able to collect 10 tons of tomato from per bigha. The collection and pulping activities will be continued till the availability of tomatoes in the field.”
Kamruzzaman Kamal, Marketing Director of PRAN-RFL Group, said “Sauce, ketchup and other food items are made from the processed pulp of tomatoes. Sauce and ketchup is very popular in Bangladesh and many other countries. PRAN is the market leader in the sector and we have capacity to produce 18000 tons of sauces every year.”
“PRAN’s sauce and ketchup have good market across the world. Presently, PRAN exports its sauce and ketchup to many countries including Malaysia, UAE, USA, Italy and Sweden. We are also trying to spread the market. If the demand increases more in world market, farmers will be able to earn more,” he added.-Press Release