Meridian Agro eyes leap in mango export

Defying the common notion that hilly areas are not suitable for commercial mango cultivation, Meridian Agro Industries has developed an orchard in Bandarban's Lama upazila, which has been producing the succulent fruit in large volume and exporting it abroad.

Meridian Agro produced 20 tonnes of mangoes in 2010, which increased to 120 tonnes in 2016. This year the company aims to produce around 180 tonnes of mangoes.

Meridian officials said previously small businessmen bought mangoes from them and exported them. The company started exporting the produce in 2021. It sent about 600 kg of mangoes to Qatar and Saudi Arabia that year, and about 700 kg in 2022.

The company has started exporting mangoes to the Netherlands this year, and initiated the process of exporting them to Canada, aiming to increase exports to 7 tonnes in 2023.

Meridian Group Chairman Kohinoor Kamal told The Business Standard, "The beginning was very challenging. Nothing new can be created without a tinge of madness. Meridian Hotel was a very profitable company at the time. Money from that business was invested in the mango orchard.

"People in this region could not do post-harvesting management and packaging of mangoes. We found that half of the mangoes would rot before arriving in Chattogram due to improper storing or poor transportation. We brought people from Rajshahi to train the locals in mango harvesting."

When the company was assessing the prospect of growing mangoes on hills, they sought India Horticulture Research Center's help in 2007, and imported about 14,000 of Amrapali, Mallika, Rangui varieties of mango saplings from Malda, India.

Meridian's orchard produced 20 tonnes of mangoes from 5,000 mature trees in 2010. Traders in Chattogram offered Tk12 per kg of Meridian's mangoes, while the production cost was over Tk24 per kg.

In a bid to make the business profitable, Meridian decided to market its mangoes on its own from next year. It brought samples of cardboard boxes from Thailand for packaging, and started making them here. Currently it markets its product in 5-kg boxes.

When Meridian Agro's Amrapali mango became popular in the market in a short time, the company started working with new foreign varieties of the fruit. In 2014-15, the Meridian Group managing director and chairperson started bringing in saplings of improved varieties of mangoes from Thailand in small quantities when they went there for personal or business purposes. Later, they produced more seedlings from those plants to expand their orchard. Thus the company started commercial production of Thai Nam Dock Mai, Thai Kancha-Mitha, Sornali, Thai Banana, and Thai Mohasen varieties of mangoes.

After 2018, Meridian added Red King mango of Vietnam, Thai Cant and Applemango of Thailand. Currently, it cultivates 38 varieties of mangoes, and has been running research on a number of new varieties.

Meridian officials involved in mango cultivation said previously only seasonal mangoes were cultivated in their orchard, which remained fruitless for the rest of the year. Currently, they cultivate mangoes – such as Katiman – throughout the year.

Meridian Agro Industries has also undertaken a plan to export processed dried fruits.

Kohinoor Kamal said export will be easier if the fruit is dehydrated. ''At least 40% percent of our produce is wasted, while in developed countries like Thailand a lower amount of fruit is wasted due to proper processing. We should think about it."

In addition to cultivating and exporting mangoes, Meridian's nursery has started selling seedlings of foreign improved varieties of mango from 2020. Currently, it sells 12 varieties of seedlings including Amrapali, Thai Nam Dock Mai, Thai Kancha-Mitha, Thai Banana, Red King, Katiman, and Haribhanga.