Carton milk guzzled down in Gujarat

VADODARA: Changing retail format and a growing number of working women have given a boost to the market for carton-packed milk (in ultra heat treated or UHT form).

The market for UHT milk has expanded from about 80m litres a year to about 140m litres a year in last three years. As a result, one of the country’s largest aseptic packaging technology providers, Tetra Pak, has been growing at 40% for the last couple of years, the company claims.

A large number of dairies are looking at venturing into the UHT milk market. The Haryana-based GK Dairy and Milk Products are already in talks with Tetra Pak for buying technology.

The Rs 3,700-crore Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets the Amul brand, is selling about 2 lakh litre UHT milk a day. Nestle India has also rolled out milk in cartons in certain pockets. Vishaka, Vijaya, Mother Dairy and Verka are some of the strong regional brands in UHT milk market.

“The market for UHT milk has expanded from about 80m litres a year to about 140m litres a year in last three years. People are becoming health conscious and prefer milk in carton as it offers hygiene,” said Drummond Rimmer, business development director, Tetra Pak India that has a factory with a capacity of 4m packages.

Mr Rimmer added that milk in carton package is better for tea and coffee due to its thickness and taste. UHT milk is being largely used by institutional buyers like defence and airlines apart from households in West Bengal and North East.

“We launched UHT milk in FY04-05 and this category has grown almost by 200% annually. Mother Dairy launched UHT milk in ’04-05 and this category has grown almost by 200% annually. UHT milk provides an alternate source of good quality milk where there is shortage of fresh milk and also provides convenience to families who are hard pressed for time,” said Paul Thachil, CEO, Mother Dairy.

“The UHT milk market is growing at good pace for GCMMF but it can’t replace the pouched milk on account of cost factor. Indian consumers are looking for value for money and milk in carton is going to remain favourite in certain segments only. However, we are anticipating entry of number of regional players in coming days the way market is growing,” said RS Sodhi, CGM of GCMMF. The market leader GCMMF is growing at over 40% in UHT milk market.

Commenting on the cost factor, Mr Rimmer said, “We always work with our customers to offer attractive solutions and pricing to remain competitive and ensure profitable growth with all. Costs are constantly being looked at and we have been fortunate in not increasing prices significantly over the past few years. With increasing raw material increases there may be a need to review this, however cost awareness combined with consumer acceptance mean that price points have been able to remain stable.”