Mother Dairy to soon sell its products in southern markets

Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt Ltd plans to enter the southern markets with a range of dairy products in the next couple of months, said Sandeep Ghosh, Business Head (Dairy Products), Mother Dairy.

The company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Dairy Development Board, will launch the Mother Dairy brand of milk and dairy products at competitive prices and set up a chain of exclusive parlours.

Mother Dairy double toned (regular) milk will be available at ₹36 a litre, which is the lowest compared to other major private sector brands such as Arokya (₹40 a litre), Heritage (₹40) and Tirumala (₹42). The Tamil Nadu dairy cooperative-owned Aavin, after a recent increase in price, now sells at ₹34 a litre. “Besides, Mother Dairy will also deliver the milk sachet at customers’ doorstep, at no extra cost,” Ghosh said.

The company expects at least 10-15 per cent of its dairy business to come from the southern market over a period.

For the ₹6,500-crore company, milk and other dairy products contribute over 75 per cent, while the rest is made up of fruits and vegetables (under the brand Safal) and edible oils (Dhara).

“We have been doing our test marketing in select pockets in Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, which proved to be very successful,” he said. With the company’s milk processing plant, Balaji Dairy in Tirupati going full steam, the company can now cover more areas in these cities. Besides processing milk, the facility in Tirupati will also make dairy products such as curd, paneer, ghee, sweetened lassi and other cultured products. To enhance brand visibility, Mother Dairy also plans to set up exclusive parlours — at least 10 in each city, which will showcase all its products.

Ghosh said Mother Dairy has the necessary cold-chain distribution network in place in Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, and will slowly expand it to cover all pockets of these cities in the following weeks. Overall, it will sell its range of products in around 6,000 outlets in these cities. At present, the Mother Dairy brand is well established in the NCR and the western region. “With our expanded market, we would cross ₹10,000 crore business in the next two-three years,” he said.