Jackfruit gets a new life as biscuits in a Gazipur factory

In Bairagir Chala village, mornings begin with the pervasive smell of jackfruit. Along the roads, in courtyards and across gardens, the large green fruits hang from trees or pile up after being harvested. During peak season, there is no escaping the abundance.

Yet, behind the familiar sweetness is an equally familiar problem. As the season progresses and the market becomes saturated, jackfruit prices often fall sharply. Buyers become scarce, many fruits are left hanging on trees and the fruits that are harvested can end up rotting on the ground.

For years, this has been an accepted part of life in the area. But in one small factory in Sreepur, Gazipur, an entrepreneur is trying to change what happens to the fruit after it leaves the tree.

At the Mohtahina Food factory in Bairagir Chala, jackfruit is no longer simply a seasonal fruit. It has become a raw material for a new kind of food product: premium jackfruit biscuits.

Entrepreneur Abdus Sattar started the venture only a few months ago on an experimental basis. Today, the factory produces jackfruit biscuits every day, selling them to local customers as well as buyers from different parts of the country through online orders. Between 25 and 30 kilograms of biscuits are sold each day.

Inside the factory, rows of ripe jackfruits await processing. Their pulp is extracted and prepared for mixing, while large machines combine it with other ingredients before the mixture is sent into industrial ovens.

The idea, however, began thousands of miles away from Sreepur.

Sattar, who enjoys travelling, visited different countries to learn about industries built around local agricultural products. During a trip to China, he saw jackfruit being used to make a variety of food products.

The experience left him with a question: Bangladesh produces some of the world's best jackfruit, so why should so much of it be left to rot once the season ends?

After returning home, Sattar began experimenting with jackfruit-based products. It took several attempts, including failures, before he developed a recipe that uses around 20 per cent jackfruit pulp.

The result is a biscuit that retains the fruit's distinctive taste, aroma and colour.

The production process begins with selecting ripe jackfruit of suitable varieties. The pulp is then extracted using a specialised method before being combined with ghee, butter, milk, flour and other ingredients. The mixture is shaped into biscuits and baked in a modern oven for around half an hour, producing crisp, golden biscuits.

According to factory workers, the sweetness and variety of the jackfruit can directly affect the quality of the final product. Each fruit is therefore checked individually before being processed.

The biscuits have also attracted curiosity among local consumers. Some customers initially bought them because of their novelty, while others returned after enjoying the taste.

Local resident Mobarak Hossain said the aroma of jackfruit was one of the most appealing aspects of the product. “The aroma of jackfruit in the biscuit is wonderful,” he said.

Local businessman Nurul Islam also praised the taste, while suggesting that further improvements could help the product reach markets beyond Sreepur. “The biscuit tastes good. If it is further improved, it could easily be marketed in distant markets,” he said.

The product currently sells for 750 taka to 850 taka per packet, with packets weighing between 800g and 1kg. While the price is relatively high, the novelty of the product has continued to attract customers.

For Sattar, however, the biscuits are only the beginning. He plans to use the next jackfruit season to develop a wider range of products, including dry cakes, chips, candy and jelly.

The ambition is significant because the raw material is already abundant.

Sreepur is widely known as an important jackfruit-growing area. Across Gazipur district, jackfruit is cultivated on around 8,500 hectares of land, with annual production exceeding 250,000 tonnes.

Yet much of that abundance is lost because of limited storage and processing facilities. Farmers can be left without a fair return when prices fall, while large quantities of fruit are wasted before they can reach consumers.

In 2025, Gazipur's jackfruit received geographical indication, or GI, recognition. At the same time, demand for Bangladeshi jackfruit has begun to grow in international markets. New export possibilities, particularly in China, have also raised hopes for the development of jackfruit-based industries.

Sreepur upazila agriculture officer Sumaiya Sultana Bonna said the agriculture department was prepared to provide the necessary technical assistance to initiatives of this kind.

The challenge facing jackfruit is not simply one of production. Bangladesh produces thousands of tonnes of the fruit every year, but much of it is lost because it cannot be stored or processed quickly enough.

Elsewhere, agricultural products are increasingly being turned into value-added goods, allowing producers to earn significantly more from crops that might otherwise have limited shelf lives.

The small factory in Bairagirchala offers one possible glimpse of what that could mean for Bangladesh's jackfruit industry.

A fruit once associated with seasonal abundance and inevitable waste is being given another life, this time in the form of a biscuit.

If more ventures such as this are initiated, the jackfruit that once lay rotting beneath the trees could become something far more valuable; not only for the farmers who grow it but for an industry looking to turn one of Bangladesh's most abundant fruits into a year-round economic opportunity.

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