VADODARA: In its seven decades journey, India’s home-grown dairy giant has seen it all. Be it riots or curfews, floods or earthquakes, Amul has witnessed all kinds of disasters - manmade or natural. But never in its history has it seen a 10-12 % dip in sale of the most essential commodity – milk. And that too for a period of over 20 days.
“We have seen curfews in the past. There were times when we would drive our vehicles to supply milk from most disturbed areas of Ahmedabad to ensure continuous supply of milk to consumers. But such curfews would impact sale only in a particular pocket of a city or state. It was never the case when the entire country was affected for such a long time,” said R S Sodhi, managing director of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) that markets brand Amul.
Ahead of the nationwide lockdown, the demand for milk and dairy products had increased as people resorted to panic buying. “But soon it tapered. We have witnessed a decline of 10 to 12 % in sales of fresh products as hotels, restaurants, cafes and even roadside ‘chai’ kitlis are closed,” he said.
Before lockdown, Amul was selling 140 lakh litres per day (LLPD) milk in Gujarat and markets outside the state which has now reduced to 125 LLPD.
In contrast, GCMMF and 18 milk unions which are its members, are currently procuring 255 LLPD milk which is 15% higher compared to the previous year.
“A majority of private players have stopped procuring milk from farmers. But we have not stopped production. All our plants are functioning at their full capacity,” he said, adding that the impact could have been more.
“Sales could have dipped to 15%-20 % but consumption in homes has increased ,” he said, adding that while sale of fresh products has declines, sale of other dairy products like tetrapack milk, butter, ghee and paneer has gone up in the range of 20 to 50 %.
“We have seen curfews in the past. There were times when we would drive our vehicles to supply milk from most disturbed areas of Ahmedabad to ensure continuous supply of milk to consumers. But such curfews would impact sale only in a particular pocket of a city or state. It was never the case when the entire country was affected for such a long time,” said R S Sodhi, managing director of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) that markets brand Amul.
Ahead of the nationwide lockdown, the demand for milk and dairy products had increased as people resorted to panic buying. “But soon it tapered. We have witnessed a decline of 10 to 12 % in sales of fresh products as hotels, restaurants, cafes and even roadside ‘chai’ kitlis are closed,” he said.
Before lockdown, Amul was selling 140 lakh litres per day (LLPD) milk in Gujarat and markets outside the state which has now reduced to 125 LLPD.
In contrast, GCMMF and 18 milk unions which are its members, are currently procuring 255 LLPD milk which is 15% higher compared to the previous year.
“A majority of private players have stopped procuring milk from farmers. But we have not stopped production. All our plants are functioning at their full capacity,” he said, adding that the impact could have been more.
“Sales could have dipped to 15%-20 % but consumption in homes has increased ,” he said, adding that while sale of fresh products has declines, sale of other dairy products like tetrapack milk, butter, ghee and paneer has gone up in the range of 20 to 50 %.
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