By Thai Newsroom Reporters
MANGOSTEEN JAM IS BEING industriously manufactured in an eastern district of Chanthaburi albeit not in high demand. The more the queen of the fruits is processed, the less it is thrown away as a rotten, unsold farm produce, simple as that.
Farmer Boonsong Srisantanakit has recruited relatives and neighbours in Khao Wua subdistrict of Tha Mai district for help her with the homemade processing of the freshly-picked fruit into mangosteen jam, keeping fingers crossed it will find its way to domestic markets nationwide as a sweet and sour snack in addition to the likes of durian paste, pineapple jam and strawberry jam.
The farmer’s home-based enterprise was prompted by the unwelcomed event in which the average ex-farm price of fresh mangosteen has incredibly plummeted from as much as 60 baht to less than 10 baht a kilogramme whereas some 100,000 tons of mangosteen was forecast to be combinedly produced in the eastern provinces of Rayong, Trat and Chanthaburi throughout this year.
That did not include the mangosteen produced in abundant volume in several southern provinces which will almost certainly oversupply the domestic markets throughout the country.
Boonsong said she was immensely appalled at the unexpected event in which some 300 kilogrammes of mangosteen was torched in a blaze by some farmers who joined street protesters at Victory Monument in Bangkok on Aug 13.
The mangosteen farmer who is buying the fresh fruit from fellow farmers for an average ex-farm price of 15 baht a kilogramme has planned to increase the manufacturing volume of her homemade mangosteen jam with intent to help relieve their economic plight due to the sustained pandemic situation.
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Truckloads of the freshly-harvested mangosteen, earlier viewed as a cash crop among the likes of durian, also known as king of the fruits, rambutan and longkong, are currently facing difficulties passing the Dark Red Zone in Rayong, Chonburi, Bangkok and its outlying provinces before the fresh fruit finds its way to the markets without getting rotten along the way.
Though Boonsong’s mangosteen jam in a 120-gramme package which is selling for 25 baht would be unlikely to bring about a promising demand as an alternative snack among the domestic consumers, she honestly hoped it will more or less alleviate the woes of the fellow farmers.
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Top: Lots of mangosteen. Photo: Tourism Authority of Thailand
Home Page: Bread and jam. Photo: Br3nda (CC BY 2.0)
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