Firms shift to ‘fruit drinks’ as BSTI tightens rules

Only one company has applied for a licence to market juice after Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution increased the fruit pulp requirement level by tightening rules, an official said yesterday.
Earlier this year, BSTI raised the fruit pulp requirement to a minimum of 88 percent from 25 percent previously for companies that want to market products as juice in the home market.
Now, most local firms that previously marketed fruit juices, mainly mango, are rebranding their products as fruit drinks as the minimum requirement for them is only 10 percent fruit pulp.
“Only a Dutch company has applied for the licence to make pineapple juice after we revised the standard for pulp requirement,” said BSTI Director (Certification Mark) Kamal Prashad Das.
BSTI has already given a nod to the firm BanglaDutch Developments Ltd, a foreign direct investment, he said. The company started marketing its pineapple juice in local markets in February.
“It means that there is no BSTI-certified mango juice in the home market by local companies.”
The standardisation agency has fixed the new standards to award licences for juice in the face of rising popularity of fruit flavoured drinks among people, as many are led to believe that there is a high content of pulp.
Most local firms like Pran, Akij Food and Beverage Ltd, Abul Khair Group and Sajeeb Corporation had earlier marketed mango drinks as juice, based on former BSTI standards.
Companies that previously marketed drinks under the name of juice have not come forward to acquire licences under the new rules that came into force in June.
Asked, Pran’s Director for Marketing Kamru-zzaman Kamal said the company, which makes Frooto, is now marketing it with ‘fruit drink’ written on the label.
“We did not apply for a licence to market juice after the hike in pulp requirement. The reason for not taking the licence is purely because of the purchasing capacity of the mass consumers in our country. But we have plans to come up with 100 percent juice for the consumers who can afford it.”
“Calling it a drink doesn’t mean the quality or the formulation has changed. This is a government decision and we are just complying with it,” Kamal said.