Here’s the truth about jute.

Jute owes its popularity to its amazing strength. It has been used extensively in the textile and agricultural industries but sparingly in the retail market. The jute bag can carry almost double the weight of its plastic counterpart and outlasts it.

Jute grows best across the wide Bengal Delta (the fertile basin spanning East India and Bangladesh). Farmers scatter the seed on open soil. In a magical spell of 4 months the crop is ripe for harvest (another case of Mother Nature’s factory outperforming man’s). The stalks are cut low to the ground, bundled and left to soak for a little more than a fortnight. This softens the tissue. The fibers are later separated from the stalks and rinsed in clear, running water. Then spread on thatch roofs to dry. In 2-3 days they are ready to be sold. The best variety (which we scour the sub-continent to buy) has a lovely golden sheen. There, we finally let the cat out of the bag.