Bangladesh’s earnings from spice exports increased 25 percent year-on-year in the first three months of fiscal 2023-24 due to demand from expatriates of Bangladesh and other Asian countries.

The wholesale spice market of Chawkbazar is not a fancy, spice souk you see in the Middle East; it is a messy place, with extremely narrow, mucky lanes snaking through filth. Even manoeuvring a rickshaw is a challenge on these roads which are further piled up with sacks of assorted spices, herbs used in Ayurveda and Unani, and of course dry fruits from all over the world.