CONSUMPTION OF PITHA AND IMPORT OF POWDERED MILK IN BANGLADESH
Pitha
is the vital part of the heritage of Bangladesh since the time immemorial and
habit of dairy milk drinking is being treated as one of the good attitudes
towards food item for the students. So to explore knowledge on pitha and milk
consumption pattern in the present residents of the respondents and also in the
houses of grandparents of the said school and college goers in 36 districts of
Bangladesh, a total of 100 students were enumerated from November 2021 to April
2022. Different published articles were also cited to explore knowledge on
powdered milk consumption and import pattern in Bangladesh to study the actual
necessities to import powdered milk. A
very good numbers and types of pithas were found at grand parents’ houses of
the respondents. All school and college goers used to eat milk pitha and
familiar with different types of pithas like chittai pitha, kuli pitha and kola
pitha. Favorite food items of the respondents were ice cream, biriyani, chicken
fry and roast, sweet meat and milk drinks at home but they loved to have ice
cream (69%), fuchka (41%) and potato
chips and so on during travel to somewhere. Demand of dairy milk was estimated considering all human
beings wants to drink as per WHO prescribed amount on a daily basis in a year
but the fact is that about 14% of the respondent in the present study
did not drink milk, moreover those who took the milk did not drink on a regular
basis. Dairy
farmers are not getting prices of their produces in peak season and milk processors in Bangladesh also
unable to process huge amount of milk to powder due to the huge lacking of
structured supply system and lack of organized market. So an
in-depth study encompassing consumers, marketers, processors and milk producers
is meaningful to come up with a concrete decision to set the demand of dairy
milk and import powdered milk in Bangladesh.