Eyeing a further increase in its swelling buttermilk sales, dairy giant Amul on Thursday launched Kathiyawadi Chaas — a new variety of buttermilk, especially popular in Saurashtra and Kutch regions of the state Gujarat. It also launched a 1 kg pack of Masti Dahi, the dairy’s curd offering.
At an event, Valamji Humbal, Vice Chairman, Gujarat State Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), launched the Kathiyawadi Chaas. The event was organised at the milk processing plant of Sarhad Dairy (Kutch Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited), one of the member unions of GCMMF at Chandrani in Kutch on Thursday. At the same event, the Vice-Chairman of GCMMF, the cooperative dairy federation which sells dairy products under brand name Amul, also launched a 1 kg tub pack of Masti Dahi.
“As compared to our regular Amul Buttermilk, the traditional buttermilk in Kathiyawadi or Saurashtra region of Gujarat is a little sour in taste but milder than the khatti chaas or sour buttermilk. Many people prefer the Kathiyawadi taste of milk for direct consumption as well as for making recipes like kadhi. Therefore, we have come up with this new variety of buttermilk and will be available at retail outlets in Kutch from Thursday evening,” Humbal told The Indian Express.
The GCMMF Vice-Chairman said that the Kathiyawadi Chaas will be available across Saurashtra within a few days. “Our four plants will manufacture Kathiyawadi Chaas and make them available in Saurashtra and Kutch region,” he said, adding, “We will make this new variety available for other reasons also depending on market response.”
Amul’s existing buttermilk basket has the regular buttermilk, probiotic buttermilk, khatti chaas (sour buttermilk), spiced buttermilk in tetra packs, and masala chaas in pouches. “We are selling an average one lakh litres of buttermilk in Kutch every day. We believe Kathiyawadi Chaas will appeal to the taste buds of people of Kutch and lead to an increase of around 20 per cent in sales volumes,” Humbal added.
A 400-millilitre pouch of Kathiyawadi Chaas will be priced Rs 10. It will have a shelf life of two days.
Jayen Mehta, Managing Director, GCMMF, said that Amul has reported a whopping 50 per cent increase in buttermilk sales this summer. “On an average, we are selling 50 lakh litres of buttermilk daily this year at pan India level. That is an increase of around 50 per cent,” Mehta told The Indian Express, adding, “The sales volume jumped due to a hot and extended summer and launch of probiotic buttermilk.”
Mehta said that Amul is selling around one lakh litres of butter milk in Gujarat alone. “Amul needs to adapt to the taste of people and Kathiyawadi Chaas is popular in Saurashtra region of Gujarat and therefore, we need to address that market demand. We already had the active culture for such a buttermilk, machinery to manufacture the product and the marketing and distribution network. So, we launched the product,” the MD said, adding, “If demand comes from other market pockets, we will certainly make Kathiyawadi Chaas available there also.”
Humbal said that the larger pack of curd is aimed at larger families and institutional consumers like hotels. “Presently, Masti Dahi is available in cups of 85 grammes and 200 grammes and are priced at Rs 10 and Rs 22 respectively. The one-kg tub is like a family pack meant for larger families, restaurant, hotels etc and will be priced at Rs 110 and it will have a shelf life of 22 days.”
