The Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF), renowned for its Nandini brand of milk and milk products, achieved a significant milestone by procuring one crore litres of milk from its members in a single day. Celebrating its 50th anniversary, KMF faces new marketing challenges amidst its expanding milk procurement.
The milestone prourement was reached on June 28, with 1,00,05,000 litres procured across village-level cooperative societies, a feat repeated the following day. Currently, KMF’s cumulative average milk procurement stands at 98 lakh litres.
Competitive Market
Despite a 14% increase in milk procurement this year, sales of KMF’s milk and milk products grew by 10% event though the federation is competing with other milk brands in the South and West Indian markets to expand its footprint.
The KMF’s recent initiative to offer an additional 50 ml in each half and one litre sachets for an extra ₹2 is viewed as a strategy aimed at easing the load on the federation, which otherwise processes surplus milk into skimmed milk powder (SMP).
Presently, out of nearly one crore litres procured, KMF distributes approximately 65 lakh litres as liquid milk, including UHT Goodlife and curd. Additionally, around eight lakh litres are allocated for the Ksheera Bhagya scheme, which supplies milk to school children after being converted into milk powder, while another six lakh litres are utilized for producing milk products like ice creams and sweets.
State Govt. to clear ₹700 crore dues
The rise in milk procurement by the Karnataka Cooperative Milk Federation (KMF) has increased the subsidy burden on the state government. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, participating in the celebration of achieving one crore litres of milk procurementb stated, “The government provides approximately ₹5 crore daily as financial incentives to farmers, totaling around ₹1,800 crore annually.”
The state government is set to soon clear ₹700 crore in dues for the ₹5 per litre of financial incentive scheme being privided to farmers in the satte.
Nandini’s Global Footprint and Sponsorships
Nandini’s global reach includes markets in Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, the UAE, and the US. However it drew lot of agttention for its decision to sponsor the Scotland and Ireland cricket teams during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Comemting on its decision to sponsor Scotland and Ireland cricekt teams, M K Jagadish, Managing Director, KMF said, “Yes, we are sponsoring them. They are going to display our brand during the matches,”. He further said that the decision was taken to make Nandini a global brand.
Expanding to NCR / Delhi Markets
The Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) is also planning to expand marketing of its liquid sachet milk and fresh dairy prducts in NCR market shortly. The federation, recently invited Expression of Interest (EOI) from agencies to establish a robust network of distributors and channels for effective launch and distribution of its premium quality liquid sachet milk and fresh dairy prducts.
The selected agency is expected to develop a comprehensive distribution strategy for Nandini liquid sachet Milk and fresh dairy products in NCR Delhi, select and establish a network of efficient and dependable milk agents/distributors and retail channels and ensure seamless and efficient milk distribution to maximize market reach and customer satisfaction.
