Marking its foray into north India, Karnataka Milk Federation–the country’s second-largest cooperative dairy–launched its milk brand Nandini in Delhi on Thursday.
Speaking at the event, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said: “When you can’t beat Gujarat, be near to it”, in reference to Nandini’s competitor Amul, which is India’s largest milk brand.
With its north India foray, the brand with an annual turnover of Rs 23,000 crore aims to be in the top three milk brands in the national capital region, where Delhi-based Mother Dairy has a formidable presence and a joint 70% market share with Amul.
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Speaking with FE, KMF managing director MK Jagadish said: “We are aiming to double our turnover in the next five years by expanding to other states. When we entered Maharashtra, we were nowhere. Today, we are among the top three, and that is where we aim to be in Delhi too.”
Initially entering the NCR market with only milk and curd, to be followed by ghee, the brand already has a distribution network on the grounds and will also set up an experience centre, besides brand outlets. The products are priced marginally less than its competitors.
Jagadish further said that KMF is also looking to enter Madhya Pradesh, western Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and the North-East.
Asked if the brand’s entry had faced any opposition from BJP-ruled states, he said: “It’s an open market. We have not faced any issues so far, but, maybe…”
Amul and Nandini are not only market competitors, but were also on the opposite sides of a pre-poll political battle that erupted last year when it was alleged by the Congress that the previous BJP government in the state was trying to merge Nandini with Amul.
Commenting on the launch, Manish Bandlish, managing director, Mother Dairy, told FE: “We believe that the role of organised players will only help drive growth of the dairy industry and the spirit of competition should pave the way to benefit consumers.”
Bandlish said with a strong presence of five decades, Mother Dairy has created and defined the dairy market of NCR, and is one of the most trusted brands and a household name in the region.
In FY24, Amul of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) and Mother Dairy reported a turnover of Rs 80,000 crore and Rs 15,000 crore, respectively.
Asked how the brand plans to survive in a tough market like Delhi, where other brands such as Punjab’s Verka and Bihar’s Sudha have not succeeded, KMF marketing head M Raghunandan said: “Our confidence is based on the quality of our products. That, plus our aggressive distribution will ensure that Nandini becomes a household name.”
He said the brand is already recognisable nationwide, given that it was the sponsor of two cricket world cup teams recently–Scotland and Ireland–besides launching an energy drink during the T20 World Cup in the US this year. After the Tirupati laddoo controversy, where it was alleged that animal fat was used for prasad, Raghunandan disclosed that KMF has got an exclusive contract to supply ghee for the making of the laddoos. As for the political controversy, he sees it as a publicity opportunity, saying “it just gave the brand more visibility”.
Jagadish said initially, KMF will sell 100,000 litre of milk in the Delhi market daily, which would expand to 1 million litre soon. “We have excess milk of around 3.5 million litre daily. KMF’s average procurement of milk is around 9.4 million litre, which is growing annually at 8-10%,” he said.
KMF plans to transport milk to NCR from Karnataka, which is about 2,000 km away. As per industry estimates, 1.05 million litre of milk is supplied to Delhi-NCR daily.
