With expat help, Odia pickle venture tastes e-commerce success

Bhubaneswar: A Munich-based Odia woman has been supporting village women in Angul district’s Pallahara sub-division to make and sell mango and berry pickles, with products listed on an e-commerce site and sold in markets in Bhubaneswar, Konark and shops in and near their village.

Saismita Das, a senior manager with PwC, who is from Sahargurjang village found that mangoes grown widely at her native place and nearby areas often go waste or are sold for very low prices. She decided to make pickle out of it by involving women to get a higher price for the same fruit. “My aim was to economically empower women,” said Saismita, who now primarily oversees its marketing.

Currently, 11 women from Maa Durga Self-help Group are involved in cutting, cleaning and drying mangoes before making those into pickles, earning Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 every season. They started pickle-making in 2024. From 1 to 1.5 quintals in 2024, their production of sun-dried mango pickle has risen to 7 to 8 quintals this year. “At home, we used to prepare large quantities of mango pickle. We now transfer our skills to earn,” said Jharanabala Pradhan, one of the SHG members.

For the packaging, Saismita procured glass bottles from Delhi andx got her friend, Ritanjali Sethy, an engineer, to oversee it. This year, the SHG members also made sweet berry pickle for the first time. “We intend to make turmeric and masala powders along with badi and papad,” said Kumudini Mohanta, another member of the SHG.