Mamata Banerjee government ties up with chain shop to push nolen gur

Kolkata: Bengal’s much sought after nolen gur (date palm jaggery) which is usually available in winter will now be available even during the summer.

The Mamata Banerjee government has tied up with the leading sweet chain  Banchharam to sell Nolen Gur in tubes that remain fresh for three months. Nolen Gur in tubes of 100 ml is being sold from a handful of Biswa Bangla outlets across the state and a solitary one at Delhi airport since last year.

Buoyed by the enormous demand we are now expanding for which we have tied up with Banchharam. The jaggery will be available with a smarter packaging in tubes of 150 ml at these sweet shops from this weekend,” Mrityunjay Bandyopadhyay, CEO of West Bengal Khadi and Village Industries Board (WBKVIB) said. The WBKVIB that comes under the department of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has taken up the job of marketing this product.

Nolen Gur is date palm jaggery and preserving it in the right form is an absolute challenge. WBKVIB has adopted packaging from the Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP) that increased the shelf life of the product up to 90 days. “We have found out from our experience that this packaged Nolen Gur remains fresh for 180 days. We are soon sending sample to the IIP so that they conduct the requisite test for the sample and give us the nod for increasing the life of the product till 180 days,” Mr. Bandyopadhyay added.

Banchharam has 21 outlets in Kolkata and four outlets in Bengaluru too. Bengaluru, at present has as many as 22 lakh Bengalis living there. The 150 ml tube will come at a price of around Rs 60. A 100 ml tube available at the Biswa Bangla stalls is priced at Rs 49.

The new packaging for this year comes with the mention of all the nutritional contents and FSSAI stamp on the tube which will surely add more value to the product.