Nepali pickles are popular in the US, Australia, UK, Canada, Denmark, Japan, Korea, Italy, Belgium, Mauritius, UAE, Malaysia, and India.
We use Google Cloud Translation Services. Google requires we provide the following disclaimer relating to use of this service:
This service may contain translations powered by Google. Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, expressed or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement.
Recently, pickles made in Nepal have started reaching various countries. According to the Customs Department, pickles worth 216.98 million rupees were exported in just 11 months of the current fiscal year. This year, pickles were exported to Italy, Australia, Britain, Canada, Japan, Korea, America, Belgium, Mauritius, Denmark, UAE, Malaysia and India, according to the department.
In the last 11 months, the highest amount of 57,267 kg of pickles worth 37.387 million rupees was exported to Italy. Pickles worth 36.489 million rupees were exported to Australia and 36.166 million rupees were exported to Britain. The lowest amount of pickles worth 4,000 rupees was exported to India, according to the department.
Although pickle exports to India appear low, imports are increasing. Pickles worth 33.391 million rupees have been imported from India. According to the department, pickles worth 84.881 million rupees have been imported from China, 365 thousand rupees from Korea, 37 thousand rupees from Japan and 2 thousand rupees from Bhutan.
According to the department, pickle import and export are increasing. In the 11 months of the current fiscal year, pickles worth 216.98 million rupees were exported, while imports worth 118.67 million rupees were imported. In the fiscal year 2081/82, pickles worth 92.16 million rupees were exported, while imports worth 182.64 million rupees were imported. In the fiscal year 2080/81, pickles worth 158.17 million rupees were exported, while imports worth 72.16 million rupees were imported.
In the fiscal year 2079/80, pickles worth 109.84 million rupees were exported from Nepal. In the same year, pickles worth 102 million rupees were imported. In the fiscal year 2078/79, pickles worth 38.66 million rupees were exported, but only 39.22 million rupees were exported abroad in the fiscal year 2077/78. In 2078/79, pickles worth 76.461 million rupees were imported and in 2077/78, 25.234 million rupees were imported.
Recently, pickle production has started on a commercial basis. From housewives to students and former MPs, it is seen that people are involved in the pickle business. Sangeeta Pandey of ‘Amako Achar’ started a pickle business with 10 kilos of chillies for 3 thousand rupees. At the Nirbhik Nari program organized by Kantipur, Pandey said that the pickle business that started with a kilo has now reached tons.
‘I started with 10 kilos of pickles, now it is made in tons,’ she said, ‘This time I made one and a half tons of chillies. I bring tons of goods like tamarind, bitter gourd, mango, cucumber and sell them as pickles.’ Pandey, who started the pickle business at the age of 49 to distract herself, has completed 14 years in her business. ‘We should not rely on our husband’s earnings, we should not be limited to the kitchen,’ she said, ‘I never thought that the business I started with 10 kilos of chilli pickles would reach this far.’
She said that 90 percent of her mother’s pickles are exported. She makes pickles of mango, fenugreek, alasko choop, gundruk, bhatmas, lapsi, radish, green chillies and other things under her mother’s pickle brand. She also sells chicken masala, turmeric, biryani masala, buff masala, tea masala, chaat masala, sukuti and other ground spices.
Former MP Shanta Chaudhary has also started the pickle business as a source of regular income. Although she started the business informally a year ago, she formally started ‘Shanta’s Pickle Industry’ in Dang in December 2080.
She also said that she started a pickle industry because it would become a regular source of income if she took her skill of making pickles professionally. She said that making pickles was not a desire but a compulsion and that was the source of inspiration. ‘It is my nature to make and eat new dishes, and I also make and eat pickles in various ways,’ she said, ‘I have to spend my time on the skills I have.’ She spent five hundred rupees when she started making pickles. Now she is providing employment to 35 people.
