“Thanks to lapsi, none of the Sanga locals are unemployed these days. Except for two months of monsoon, when they cannot dry candy in the sun, our business runs round the year,” said Raja Ram Duwal, proprietor of Buddha Paun (hot candy) Factory.[break]
According to Duwal, more than 80 percent of people employed in these cottage industries are female.
In a bid to cash on the growing popularity of lapsi products, the locals are also diversifying their productions and are manufacturing pickles and candies of different tastes to cater to the tastes of customers.
Lapsi products made in Sanga are also exported to markets in Sikkim and Darjeeling of India and Bhutan. These products are also popular among Nepalis residing in foreign countries as number of people traveling to meet their relatives abroad also order candies in substantial volume.
“The demand is really encouraging. We find very little time to relax. Traders visit us at the factories itself to place orders,” said Duwal.
Locals collect lapsi fruits from Khopasi, Balthali and Chyasingkharka of Kavre, and Sukute and Chautara of Sindhupalchowk. They pay farmers between Rs 10 and Rs 16 for a kilogram of lapsi fruits. They easily receive up to Rs 250 per kg of candies from the traders.
“The business is fetching around Rs 30 million in Sanga every year,” said Duwal.
The first factory producing lapsi candy in Sanga was established in 1963. Today, almost all 55 households of Sanga have their own factory, producing different products that find markets in Kathmandu, Pokhara and other parts of the country.
Records of Cottage and Small Industry Office in Kavre show, Sanga today has more than 40 lapsi-based factories.
Until few years ago, Sanga locals used to visit Kathmandu and other cities searching for jobs. Today, they are employing people coming from other districts.
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