Crockeries draw crowds at Dhaka trade fair

On the 9th day of the Dhaka International Trade Fair, shoppers crowded kitchen utensil stalls that have various domestic and foreign goods even though sales are comparatively low.

Salespersons said a significant number of customers visit the stalls but most only browse and do not buy anything. Among other goods, hotpots and other such cooking utensils are selling more than other products.

Many local and foreign companies like Golden Son Limited, Golden Infinity, Delhi Aluminium, and others are participating in the trade fair. 

There are a variety of goods at the stalls like non-stick frying pans, pans, pressure cookers, rice cookers, juice makers and blenders, induction ovens, microwave oven plates, bowls, pans, non-stick cookware, and also other household appliances, most within a price range of Tk5,000 to Tk10,000.

Golden Son Limited has a variety of things like pans, electric ovens, hot pots, thermal cookers, and tiffin boxes. The sales staff of the stall said their hotpots sold the most. In the last two days, 150 hotpots were sold.

This year, thermal cookers are their new product which the company imports from Australia. A thermal cooker cooks rice in 10 minutes which takes around 30 minutes on a gas stove, and the food remains warm longer in a thermal cooker.

The Golden Son Limited stall also has family lunch boxes. The price of a 3-litre box is Tk3,500 and a 5-litre one is Tk4,000.

Another well-known company in the country, RFL, has brought some newly designed crockery products to the trade fair. Aziz-Islam, Head of Sales at Pran-RFL Centre for the fair, said he is satisfied with sales so far and hopes sales will increase in the days to come. 

"One of our major goals is to promote our products to potential customers," he added.

Among foreign stalls at the fair, Pakistani stalls have different types of crockeries where spoon sets, knives, and vegetable cutters are selling very well. Frying pans are Tk1,000-2,000 and pressure cookers are Tk1,500-4,000 there.

Saidur Rahman came to the fair from Malibagh with his family and bought pots, plates and large stockpots. He said he comes to the fair because everything is available in one place, which is very convenient.

At the Gazi Group stall, gas stoves, rice cookers, pressure cookers and geysers are selling well. Salespersons said a geyser is priced at Tk8,000-12,000, and a rice cooker is Tk1,800 to Tk4,000.