Started with a few kilos of curd at a ferry-ghat eatery; after a bridge opened, demand grew so much he stopped making sweets
A shopkeeper who opened an eatery at the Bekutia ferry ghat in Pirojpur about fifteen years ago began by making a few kilos of curd beside parota and sweets. Since the Bangamata bridge opened, curd demand has grown so much that he stopped making sweets, but sourcing milk and raising prices are now the challenge.
About fifteen years ago a businessman opened a food eatery on the eastern end of the Bekutia ferry ghat in Pirojpur. At first he sold parota and sweets and also made a few kilos of milk curd. Slowly the curd's reputation spread. After the Bangamata bridge over the Kocha river opened last September, it became even more popular, because people who come to see the bridge stop to taste the curd. Locals say it is made naturally, without chemicals, which is why it tastes good. With demand rising, he no longer makes sweets and focuses wholly on curd. There are problems too. For four to five days from Eid day there is demand for two maunds of milk worth of curd, but he cannot get enough milk, so many customers will have to be turned away. Because milk got dearer, he also had to raise the price: a year ago a kilo of curd sold for Tk 150, now it sells for Tk 200. The report gives no total income or profit, but it is clear that from a small eatery by the ferry ghat, curd has become his main business. Some locals think that if it could be produced more commercially, the curd could become a local tradition.
Lessons
- 1.When one product clearly outsells the rest, you can drop the others and focus on it; this seller stopped sweets to concentrate on curd.
- 2.If milk supply is not secured before a peak like Eid, customers get turned away; line up suppliers ahead of festivals.
- 3.A shop at a crossing point like a bridge or ferry ghat turns passers-by into customers; when raw milk gets dearer, the price has to rise in step.
We published this with the person's permission, without revealing who they are.
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