Alauddin Sweetmeat Ltd. | |
| Formation | 1894 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Alauddin Halwai |
| Founded at | Chowk Bazaar, Old Dhaka |
| Location | |
| Products | Sweets, Shemai, Snack foods |
| Website | alauddinsweetmeat.com.bd |
Alauddin Sweetmeat Ltd. (Bengali: আলাউদ্দিন সুইটমিট) is the oldest confectionery in Bangladesh,[1] famous for its sweet and snacks. Its founder is Alauddin Halwai.
History
editBritish Indian Period (1864-1947)
editAlauddin Sweetmeat was founded by Alauddin Halwai, a confectioner from Lucknow, British India. After successfully starting a confectionery business in Lucknow in the 1860's, Alauddin Halwai decided to expand his business. In 1864 he started his sweet shop at Chowk Bazaar in Dhaka. It was the first sweet shop in the city. In 1894, Alauddin's business was renamed "Alauddin Sweetmeat".[2] Alauddin Halwai died during the British rule. Then the fate of his business was taken over by his son named Afsaruddin.[3][4]
Pakistan Period (1947-1971)
editThe shop in Chawkbazar witnessed many historical events in Pakistan. Many prominent political leaders and student leaders used to come to the shop regularly for breakfast.[3] ‘অ’ (IPA: /o/) was chosen as the theme in the logo from the context of the Bengali language movement.[5] During the liberation war of 1971, Alauddin Sweetmeat shop was demolished and set on fire in 1971.[3]
Post-Independence Period (1971-Present)
editIn the seventies, especially after the independence of Bangladesh, the situation of sweet business began to change rapidly and Alauddin Sweetmeat took the lead role. Instead of thick khaki paper packets or sticks, Alauddin made a patterned pitch board box with his name on it. Alauddin's dark blue and magenta sweet boxes of different sizes in Milad, Kulkhani, Gaye holud and Marraige quickly became popular.[4] After independence they opened another store on Green Road, Dhaka.[6] Alauddin Sweetmeat started in 1983 as a limited company. Then they began the company's international expansion. However, after the resignation of the chairman and managing director in 1999, the company's business began to decline.[3] From 2002 to 2005, the business continued to thrive, but four years later, all Alauddin Sweetmeat stores closed. However, Alauddin Sweetmeat came back in 2009.[5] Maruf Ahmed is the present proprietor and managing director of Alauddin Sweetmeat Limited.[7][8]
Branches
editAs of 2015, Alauddin Sweetmeat had 16 branches.[4] Of these, 6 branches are located in Old Dhaka and 2 branches are located abroad. According to latest news there are 6 branches in abroad:[7][9]
Local branches
edit- Chawkbazar-1
- Chawkbazar-2
- New Market
- Green Road
- Mouchak
- Siddheswari
- Airport
- Chankharpul
- Mohakhali
- Sikkatuli
- Nawabpur
- Narinda
- Kadamtali
- Nayabazar
International branches
edit- Jackson heights, New York
- Bricklane, London
- Saudi Arabia
- Malaysia
- Singapore
- India
Products
editRegular Products
editAlauddin Sweetmeat sells sweets as their regular products. They have Rani bhog, Malai bhog, Chamcham, Raj bhog Lal mohon, Kalo jam, Barfi, Halwa, Chana, mawa laddu, Jafrani laddu, Motichur laddu, Shar malai, Irani bhog, Malai bhog,[7] Rasgolla, Sponge Rasgolla, Lalmohan, Chamcham, Molasses Sandesh, Kalojam, Malaikari,[10] Rajbhog, Yogurt, Hafsi Halua, Dudia Sandesh, Raw Sandesh, Rasmalai etc.[4] Before the day of Shab-e-barat they sell a special bread named "Barati Roti".[11]
Laccha Shemai
editAlauddin Sweetmeat has made a claim that they introduced Laccha Shemai 50 years back for the first time in Bangladesh. They sell Laccha shemai also.[7]
Ramadan Special
editAlauddin Sweetmeat is well known for selling food for Iftar in Ramadan season.[12] They sell many items in Ramadan such as Halim,[13] Samosa, Singara, Jalebi etc.[14] During the month of Ramadan they sell Reshmi Jalebi which they have been selling since 1894. Alauddin's grandson claims that this is the first Reshmi Jalebi shop in Dhaka city.[15]
Negative sides
editAlauddin Sweetmeat was fined several times by mobile court from Executive Megistrate and BSTI for retail price is not mentioned on the wrapper, violating terms and conditions of BSTI license and Consumer Rights Protection Act, producing food items in unhygienic environment, selling adulterated food etc.[16][17][18][19]
References
edit- ^ Parveen, Shahnaz (3 August 2008). "Tale of oldest Dhakai halwaiwalas". The Daily Star.
- ^ Sultana, Mariyam (1 January 2021). "কোথায় সেই আলাউদ্দিন সুইটমিট". Newsbangla24.com (in Bengali).
- ^ a b c d Zaman, Sumaiya (30 December 2020). "Alauddin Sweets: A story that began in 1864". The Business Standard.
- ^ a b c d "আলাউদ্দিন সুইটমিট: সোয়া শ বছর, মনকাড়া স্লোগান, সুস্বাদু হালুয়া আর বিচ". Kaler Kantho (in Bengali). 30 May 2015.
- ^ a b Khanam, Nilufar (26 February 2021). "ঐতিহ্য নিয়ে এখনো টিকে আছে 'আলাউদ্দিন সুইটমিট'". Bangladesh Journal (in Bengali).
- ^ Shafiq, Humayun (11 April 2019). "বাংলার রস, বাংলার মিষ্টি". Rising BD (in Bengali).
- ^ a b c d Ummay Marzan Jui (17 November 2019). "Guilty pleasures of Alauddin Sweetmeat". The Business Standard.
- ^ MH Haider (25 October 2020). "Not another sweet(s) story". The Daily Star.
- ^ Harun ur-Rashid (8 May 2018). "মিষ্টির কর্পোরেট ব্যবসা". Deutsche Welle (in Bengali).
- ^ Hossain, Farhad (23 July 2017). "মিষ্টি মালাইকারি". Kaler Kantho (in Bengali).
- ^ "শবে বরাতে 'বরাতি রুটির' ক্ষয়িষ্ণু ব্যবসা". Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 29 March 2021.
- ^ "'ভয়ে' খোলেনি ইফতারির দোকান রেস্তোরাঁ". Daily Samakal (in Bengali). 30 April 2020.
- ^ Noor, Maria (12 June 2018). "ইফতারে ঢাকার হালিম ও জিলাপি". Naya Diganta (in Bengali).
- ^ "রোজার দিনেও চকবাজারে হাঁক নেই, ডাক নেই". Jaijaidin (in Bengali). 26 April 2020.
- ^ Ahmed, Musa (4 June 2017). "জিলাপির রসাল প্যাঁচ". Prothom Alo (in Bengali).
- ^ "BSTI fines three business outlets in city". Daily Sun. 29 May 2017.
- ^ Hasan, Kamrul (22 June 2015). "11 shops fined for selling adulterated food". Dhaka Tribune.
- ^ "চকবাজারে চার মিষ্টির দোকানকে জরিমানা". Daily Ittefaq (in Bengali). 25 May 2018. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022.
{{cite web}}:|archive-date=/|archive-url=timestamp mismatch; 28 May 2018 suggested (help) - ^ "আলাউদ্দিন সুইটকে জরিমানা". Kaler Kantho (in Bengali). 30 November 2014.