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AyRojgar

Pickle (achar) making

Making mango, olive and garlic pickle for jars. Branded pickle retails at Tk 375-525 a kilo, and selling packaged food means a Tk 1,000 food safety registration even from a home kitchen.

  • Last reviewed: 19 September 2026
  • Version 1
Starting capital
৳20,000 – ৳90,000
Editorial estimate
Manpower
1 – 4 people
First sale
14 – 28 days
Official source
Break-even
4 – 8 months
Editorial estimate
Kind of work
Home based · Easy

What the business is

Cutting mango, olive, boroi, tamarind or garlic, sun-drying it, curing it in salt, spice and oil, and selling it in jars. It can start in a home kitchen, but many people do not know that once you sell it packaged, a home kitchen falls under the food safety authority's registration rules too. Under the regulations gazetted on 16 July 2026 a packaged food producer must register: Tk 1,000 to register, Tk 500 to renew, valid three years. The whole year's arithmetic is decided in mango season - the more you can buy in the weeks when green mango is cheap, the lower your cost all year. Out of season it is no longer cheap: green mango was Tk 49 a kilo online in Dhaka on 16 September 2026. Oil is the other big cost, because oil is what keeps the pickle from spoiling, and mustard oil was Tk 280-380 a litre the same day. On the selling side, a 400 g jar of Pran, Ruchi or Ahmed sits on the shelf at Tk 150-210, which is Tk 375-525 a kilo; a good homemade pickle sells above that, because people who want good pickle argue less about price. But one jar that grows mould and it is over, and a name once lost is hard to get back.

Unit economics

ItemRangeEvidenceSuggest a correction
Monthly working capital৳15,000 – ৳60,000Editorial estimate
Selling price৳375 – ৳975 / kgMarket quote
Variable cost৳210 – ৳360 / kgEditorial estimate
Gross margin44% – 63%Editorial estimate
Time to first revenue14 – 28 daysOfficial source
Break-even time4 – 8 monthsEditorial estimate
Cash cycle30 – 180 daysEditorial estimate
Waste / loss3% – 8%Editorial estimate
Daily capacity10 – 50Editorial estimate

What you need to start

  • Large pots and pans, knives, drying trays or mats, glass or PET jars, seals and labels, and a weighing scale. Their 2026 prices could not be verified for this page.Equipment
  • Salt and spices at TCB rates of 15 September 2026, per kg: iodised salt packet Tk 40-42, local turmeric Tk 320-350, local dried chilli Tk 320-380, local garlic Tk 100-120, local ginger Tk 120-140, cumin Tk 550-650, coriander Tk 200-250. Loose soybean oil is Tk 186-195 a litre.Starting stock
  • Raw materials at Dhaka rates on 16 September 2026: green mango Tk 49 a kilo (MRP Tk 59), mustard oil Tk 280-380 a litre (Pran 1 L Tk 340, Fresh Tk 330, Radhuni Tk 380, Tekka 5 L Tk 1,400).Starting stock
  • Trade licence from the union parishad, municipality or city corporation: form Tk 10, licence book Tk 50, standard tax Tk 30, stamp Tk 150-300, licence fee Tk 100-60,000 by trade type, issued in 3-5 working days. The licence must name food production as the trade.Licence
  • TIN and VAT registration from the National Board of Revenue, plus a fire licence from Fire Service and Civil Defence and clearance from the Department of Environment, all part of the food business process. With documents ready it takes two to four weeks.Licence
  • BSTI CM licence and packaged-goods registration certificate. Whether pickle is on BSTI's mandatory product list could not be confirmed in this research, but in September 2026 food businesses in Dhaka were fined Tk 25,000 to Tk 1 lakh for lacking these two documents, so check with BSTI before you start.Licence
  • Food safety registration from the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority. Under the Food Safety (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2026, gazetted 16 July 2026, it is compulsory for packaged food producers: Tk 1,000 new, Tk 500 renewal, valid three years. It applies to a home kitchen too, once the product is sold packaged.Licence
  • Establishment licence from the Food Safety Authority, Tk 1,000 to Tk 5,000, rising to Tk 40,000 for large warehouses.Licence
  • Getting salt, sun and oil right; those three are what keep pickle from spoiling. Dry it too little and mould follows; use too little oil and it will not keep.Skill
  • A mango or olive arat in season, and a wholesale spice and oil shop for the rest of the year. Line up a jar and label supplier in advance too.Supplier
  • A clean kitchen with water, covered containers and space to sun-dry. The kitchen is physically inspected when the food safety registration is issued.Workspace

How the work runs

  1. 1Decide which pickle: mango, olive, boroi, tamarind or garlic. Each has its own raw-material season, so this decision sets your working calendar for the year.
  2. 2Get the kitchen ready: clean floor, water, covered containers and a place to sun-dry. The food safety authority inspects the kitchen physically before it registers you.
  3. 3Take the trade licence and have food production written on it as the trade. You can only do the trade the licence names.
  4. 4Register with the food safety authority as a packaged food producer: Tk 1,000 new, Tk 500 renewal, valid three years. This applies even from a home kitchen once you sell it packaged.
  5. 5Get a TIN from the NBR and find out whether VAT registration applies. Supermarkets will ask for these papers before they take your product.
  6. 6Go to BSTI and find out whether your product needs a CM licence and a packaged-goods registration certificate. In September 2026 alone, food businesses in Dhaka were fined Tk 25,000 to Tk 1 lakh for not having them.
  7. 7Buy the raw material in season and buy it in bulk. This single purchase sets your cost for the whole year; out of season, Dhaka retail green mango runs up to Tk 49 a kilo.
  8. 8Cut, salt and sun-dry it thoroughly. Water left in means mould, and one mouldy jar puts the whole batch under suspicion.
  9. 9Cure it in spice and oil and fill the jars, keeping the oil above the pickle. Oil is the preservative, so do not save money by cutting it.
  10. 10Print the date of manufacture, expiry, weight, ingredients and registration number on the label. Missing or wrong label information is the commonest thing mobile courts catch.
  11. 11Keep a batch register: date made, quantity, and who supplied the raw material. If there is a complaint, that register is what protects you.
  12. 12Sell through shops and online both. Pran, Ruchi and Ahmed sit on the shelf at Tk 150-210 for 400 g; to price above that, both your taste and your packaging have to be different.

Seasons

  1. JanNormal
  2. FebNormal
  3. MarNormal
  4. AprNormal
  5. MayHigh
  6. JunHigh
  7. JulHigh
  8. AugNormal
  9. SepNormal
  10. OctNormal
  11. NovNormal
  12. DecNormal
HighNormalLow

Where it fits

  • Strong fitChattogram · The country's second-largest consumer market, with a high number of supermarkets and departmental stores.
  • Strong fitDhaka · The biggest buying market and the centre of online selling; on 16 September 2026 packaged pickle here ranged from Tk 135 to Tk 390 for 400 g. The rules also bite hardest here, with BSTI mobile courts running raids most weeks.
  • Strong fitGazipur · Tongi and the surrounding industrial belt hold many small food production units, and BSTI mobile courts operate here regularly; one unit in Tongi was fined Tk 1 lakh for producing fake-brand goods.
  • PossibleNarayanganj · Dense settlement with the Dhaka market next door, so a small maker can get product into the city easily and cheaply.
  • PossibleNarsingdi · Small food processing units operate here; a BSTI mobile court has acted against unlicensed edible oil production in the district.
  • UnknownChapai Nawabganj · Known as mango country, but no documentation of in-season wholesale green mango prices or supply here was found in this research.
  • UnknownRajshahi · Known as mango country, but the in-season green mango rate could not be verified.
  • UnknownSatkhira · Known for early mangoes, which would mean raw material earlier in the year, but no documentation of local rates was found.

Risks and cautions

  • HighWorking capital: The year is decided in season. Green mango is cheap for only a few months, and the more you buy then the lower your cost all year. But the whole purchase has to be paid for at once and the money comes back over months as jars sell. No cash in season means buying dear later: out of season, Dhaka retail green mango runs up to Tk 49 a kilo.
  • HighCompliance: Without the papers there are fines, and being homemade is no exemption. Food safety registration is compulsory for packaged food producers (Tk 1,000 new, Tk 500 renewal, three years) and the kitchen is inspected before it is issued. BSTI mobile courts in Dhaka in September 2026 fined food businesses Tk 25,000, Tk 30,000, Tk 50,000 and up to Tk 1 lakh for lacking a CM licence and a packaged-goods registration certificate. One fine eats months of a small maker's profit.
  • HighSpoilage: Dry it too little or use too little oil and the jar grows mould. Because pickle keeps for a long time the damage shows up late, after it has reached the shop or even the customer's house. Then not just that jar but the whole consignment comes back, and the shopkeeper does not take it again. For a small brand that is the costliest failure of all.
  • HighDependency: Oil prices. Oil is the preservative, so it cannot be cut to save money. Mustard oil was Tk 280-380 a litre on 16 September 2026, and TCB records loose soybean oil up 11.4 percent over twelve months. When oil rises the cost rises straight away, while the price printed on the jar cannot.
  • MediumDemand: On the shelf you are up against the big brands. On 16 September 2026, in 400 g jars, Khusboo olive was Tk 135, ACME Tk 150, Aafi Tk 170, Ahmed Tk 180 and Pran and Ruchi Tk 200. A new maker cannot reach those prices on small volumes, so the only way is to price above them on taste and packaging. Competing on price alone does not survive in this market.

Sources

What changed

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