Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets its products under the Amul brand, will cross the Rs 60,000-crore mark in total sales this fiscal, up 13% on year.

RS Sodhi, managing director, GCMMF, told FE that the jump in sales would be on the back of products like butter, cheese, milk, curd, ice creams and other dairy products.

“Last year (2020-21), we reported a turnover of Rs 53,000 crore against Rs 52,000 crore in 2019-20. “This year, we will cross Rs 60,000 crore,” Sodhi said.

Sodhi said that GCMMF is planning to invest around Rs 1,000 crore annually to expand processing facilities in states, where it has a significant presence.

The GCMMF, which follows a three-tier cooperative structure — village, district and state federation — has operations in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

It plans to expand its operations to Telangana, Punjab and Assam in the next fiscal.

Sodhi said that GCMMF also plans to expand its distribution network by adding at least 5-6 branches annually for distribution of dairy products sold under the Amul brand.

Currently, Amul has around 9,200 distributors and more than 720,000 retailers as part of its marketing value chain.

On the export front, GCMMF is likely to close FY22 with shipments of Rs 1,400 crore, a 160% rise from the previous year.

Sodhi said due to the 15-20% y-o-y rise in the cost of dairy feed, the prices paid to farmers for procurement of milk have also gone up by around 6-7%.

Last month, GCMMF increased the price of milk by Rs 2 per litre.

Earlier, in June 2021 also, it had increased milk prices byRs 2 per litre due to the increase in cost of production such as feed, transportation and other costs.

“Next two years, milk prices will be firm and this would encourage youth to go for dairy farming,” Sodhi said.

Source : Financial Express, March 30 2022