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India needs to be watchful against the possibility of any contaminated cheese from New Zealand finding its way into the domestic market, according to CITA. (Courtesy- The Economic Times) Dairy whitener exclusively from cow's milk. Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (Milma) making a pillage into the market with its own whitener brand. The Kerala market for dairy whitener alone is estimated at approximately 300 tonnes per month, translating into a value of Rs 3 crore. Milma dairy whitener Milma has introducing its Milma dairy whitener brand. The federation completed six months of test marketing and recently launched the product in Kerala market. Its dairy whitener was made exclusively from cows milk. Uses The whitener is also a versatile product since it can be used as tea whitener, coffee whitener and also make sweet dishes like payasam.
At stake is no chump change; the value of the package milk market is being estimated at Rs. 36,000 crore. So, here it is: suddenly, a market that was dominated chiefly by the neighborhood doodhwala, sedate regional brands and state-run milk federations, is now witness to a full-scale war among the big brands. Blame it on a clamour for hygiene, better packaging, and of course, the affordable prices that comes, the affordable prices that come with it. Or, blame it on the perceived power of branding. Dairy giants Amul and Nestle and busy ramping up capacities and undercutting each other; An-dhra-based Vijaya is creating sub-categories within the ultraheat treatment (UHT: milk that stays for three months) market. And condensed milk is especially thick with discounts and new products. The market is important to all three. Nestle is looking at a Rs. 150-crore business from milk alone in the next three years, Amul Taaza is expected to be a Rs.100-crore brand by ’01, and Vijaya could achieve Rs.120 crore sales from UHT milk. Consider this: Amul is investing Rs.30 crore in two new factories, one in Visakhapatnam and the other at a site in Maharashtra. Not to be outdone, Nestle is targeting the conservative south as a big milk market. The Swiss foods giant is setting up two more plants (quantum of investment yet to be revealed) in the region. Also, it is aggressive on the price front, pegging its ‘Pure Milk’ brand of UHT milk at Rs. 20 a litre against Amul Taaza’s Rs. 22. Brands like Britannia are already present in segments like sweet milk and dairy whiteners, and it is likely that they could make their way into the mainstream milk market. Sums up RS Sodhi, general manager (marketing) at Gujarat Cooperative Milk and Marketing Federation (which sells milk under the brand names Amul): "Consumers are appreciating the consistent quality and hygienic conditions that comes with tetrapack milk. Most consumers realise that mulk bought from the unorganized sector is often adulterated." The fact that national brands are getting into the fame helps. Most brands today are city and region specific, having mush roomed in the 90s when private dairies began to make their appearance. Cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai have their own brands – mostly pouch milk - and loyal following. Ahmedabad alone has more than 20 brands of pouched milk while Mumbai is estimated to have around 12. "Every state has between six to 12 brands," estimates Mr. Sodhi, adding: "In the past six to seven years, half of them have closed down as well." One reason that pouch milk, like the friendly neighborhood doodhwala, has a loyal following is because it is felt to be fresh, and is produced and consumed on a daily cycle. UHT milk, on the other hand, obviously works on a different, longer-term cycle. Pouch milk brands are fairly organized, most of them offering two or three variants. Regular and standard versions could be cow milk, while a ‘full cream’ version would be buffalo milk. But brands like Vijaya, owned by the Andhra Pradesh Dairy Development Cooperative Federation (APDDCF), see an opportunity in this. Vijaya markets milk with different fat content levels. It already has UHT milk at fat levels of five, 4.5 and three percent; it recently launched low-fat Vijaya milk with 1.5 %, priced at Rs.19. APDDCF managing director, BP Acharya, says this strategy is already working; "We have sold one lakh litres of low-fat Vijaya milk in the past 15 days alone. This number is quite impressive." Vijaya is also launching a new UHT category with a shelf life of 6 months. By the end of the year, it will be running a new, Rs. 25-crore unit at Hyderabad for this product. The product will be sold in plastic bottles. Amul is also planning three variations of its Taaza UHT milk, allowing the company to compete at different price points. Nestle has no specific plans here, but is expected to respond at some time. Some of the most exciting action is in value-added milk. Amul has launched a curd brand called ‘Masti Dahi’. Its also launching a new convenient pack at a lower price for sub-brand Amul Mithai Mate, a sweetened condensed milk. The campaign harps on both the convenience factor (easy-to-open can) and the price – Rs. 36 for 400g. Says Mr. Sodhi: "Selling condensed milk in an easy –to-open can is a novelty by itself. We are the first ones worldwide to introduce such a packaging." The launch is seen as significant, as Nestle’s Milkmaid, available in the regular can, is priced at Rs 58 for 400g. A Nestle India spokesman maintains: "Novelty does not necessarily measure a greater share in voice." The condensed milk wars have been on since ’96 when Amul launched Mithai Mate. The new product was priced Rs 10 lower than the same quantity of Milkmaid, forcing Nestle to shed five rupees from Milkmaid’s price label. At present, Milkmaid is offering a 15 g pack of Nescafe worth of Rs. 15 free with its 400 g pack of Milkmaid. Says the Nestle spokesman: "Multi-branding and cross-promotions are a significant part of Nestle’s worldwide ethos." Meanwhile, Mithai Mate, even at Rs. 36, is running a scheme whereby readers who bring the latest ad to an Amul retailer get five rupees off on purchase of Amul Mithai Mate. Amul is also investing Rs 15 crore in enhancing production capacity of Mithai Mate at Mehsana in Gujarat from 300 tonnes to 900 tonnes per month. Nestle says Milkmaid commands three quarters of the sweetened condensed milk market. Amul claims a 40 % market share, expected to grow to 60% once the expansion plans and new products are lined up. The market for sweetened condensed milk in India is estimated at over Rs. 100 crore. And in milk powders, Nestle is at the receiving end of aggressive pricing by rivals: the latest entrant, Britannia’s Milkman dairy whitener is priced at Rs. 70 for 500 g, against Nestle’s Rs. 80 and Amul’s Rs. 70. |
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