Urbanisation fuels demand for tomato ketchups, sauces

The demand for tomato ketchups is growing fast in the country, powered mostly by urban consumers' changing tastes and dietary habits.

People familiar with manufacturing the condiments told the FE that the market that includes also tomato sauces is now as big as Tk 3.0 billion, which was just Tk 250 million six to seven years ago.

Tomato ketchup is prepared with tomatoes, sugar, vinegar and spices. It is used as a table condiment to be consumed with chips, burgers, etc. In contrast, tomato sauce is made from tomatoes, oil, meat or vegetable stock and spices. Vinegar is not usually used in sauces.

They said the market has been expanding every year at around 20 per cent, encouraging many to grab shares in the fast-growing segment.

In Bangladesh, Ahmed Food Products pioneered making tomato an industrialised item, although the US food giant Heinz's first invented it in 1876.

Currently, Pran-RFL, Square, ACI, BD Foods, Ahmed's, Sajib's are major manufacturers the product in Bangladesh.

Golden Harvest, listed on Dhaka and Chittagong bourses is the latest player in the market to foster competition in the growing market.

Big manufacturers collect tomatoes from their contract growers, while other firms procure them from the rural market.

"It was just an imported product even in the early 2000s and the elites used to consume it," said a top executive at Ahmed Foods Products.

Ahmed's founder late Mohammad Ahmed produced and marketed tomato products in the 1980s.

But despite local production, import of ketchup still accounts for around 30 per cent of the country's total requirement of around 10,000 tonnes.

Importers procure Heinz's products from its Malaysia plants and others buy those from Thailand, Indonesia, the USA and India.

The demand for ketchup and sauces made from tomato, originating from Peru of South America, are now dominating mostly urban areas encompassing household consumptions to restaurants.

The industry insiders, however, claimed that the demand for ketchups and sauces are also rising in rural areas where people consume it with "shamucha", "singara", "pakora", "puri" and junk foods.

Minhaz Ahmed, managing director at Ahmed's Foods, said his company was now marketing over 1,500 tonnes ketchups and sauces annually.

Import is easy, he said, suggesting some restrictions on protecting the local industry.

Pran-RFL Group forayed into ketchups and sauce market sometime in 1998 and its aggressive marketing helped the company become a market leader, grabbing as much as 40 per cent shares.

Currently, Pran is producing over 4,000 tonnes of tomato ketchup and sauce at its Natore plants.

Toshan Paul, head of marketing at the Pran RFL, told the FE: "This is expanding so fast that they procure tomato at least 20 per cent higher than the previous year."

Industry insiders say the manufacturing cost of ketchup is less than Tk 250 a kilogramme (kg) and its retail prices at around Tk260-Tk 280 a kg.

Most local brands like Pran, Ruchi, Sajeeb, Golden Harvest, Meridian, and Ahmed are selling a bottle weighing 340 grammes at Tk 90.

Imported Heinz, Best and Umami are selling at Tk 127 to Tk 150 ( 330 gm-340 gm bottle).

Square's Ruchi ketchup hit the market sometime in 2010, and it is marketing 1,000 tonnes of sauce and chilli sauce a year.

On the other hand, Sajeeb's, which entered the market in 2009, said they market over 500 tonnes while the Golden Harvest 500 tonnes.

Nutritionists say while the local expansion of supplementary food is a welcome addition, the authorities should ensure quality.

They said there are random uses of ketchups and sauces through "mini packs," which need to be monitored as to whether the companies are feeding consumers with correct ingredients.

Professor Nazma Shaheen, director of Food and Nutrition Institute at the University of Dhaka, said tomato ketchup is a highly nutritious item if quality is properly maintained.

This food item contains vitamins, protein, potassium, sugar, dietary fiber and so on and many believe it to be antioxidants.