Insights into Cheese Marketing in Bangladesh: Marketing Cost, Margin, and Efficiency

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Cheese though not native to Bangladesh has seen an increased surge in popularity in recent years. Even though there have been several studies that focus on the economic aspects of cheese production, there is a dearth of studies tackling the marketing aspects of cheese in Bangladesh. This study is an attempt to examine the marketing channels, the cost associated, the marketing margin, and the marketing efficiency of cheese in Bangladesh. This study is mainly based on primary data, collected from purposively selected participants from the districts of Kishoreganj, Thakurgaon, and Manikganj. The respondents consisted of 50 cheese producers and 20 market intermediaries. Simple descriptive statistics were employed to analyze the data. Traditional and modern types of channels were associated with the marketing of cheese. Marketing cost analysis identified, transportation, facility rent, and outlet maintenance to be the primary cost components. The value additions of per kg cheese by wholesaler-cum-retailers, retailers, and supermarkets were calculated at BDT 232.40, BDT 97.12 and BDT 250, respectively. Significant net margins were observed across all the channels. Though producers mostly used Channel I, Channel III (Producers → Consumers) and Channel IV (Producers → Retailers → Consumers) were identified to be the most efficient among the different channels examined in the study. Channel II had the lowest price spread, on the contrary, Channel V had the highest one. Just after direct marketing, cheese producers received higher percentage of consumers price (74%) using Channel II. Given the current potential of the cheese industry, the government should focus on this sector to address and overcome existing challenges in cheese marketing.