Several Aavin consumers have complained about milk in sachets not being reconstituted properly and having milk solids, the shelf life getting shorter and below-par quality of curd made using the milk.

An official of the dairy major, however, said it could be because of inadequate cold storage facilities at the retailer’s end.

Indira Lakshman, a resident of Triplicane, said she buys Aavin milk in blue sachets and curds using this milk are not as good as they used to be. “When I scoop out the curd, it is gooey. It just doesn’t taste right. Someone said I should try making curd using some other samples, which I have tried but to no avail,” she said.

S. Vishwanathan, a resident of Pattabiram and an Aavin customer for 15 years, said his family consumed full cream milk. These days the milk is diluted.

According to Seethalakshmi, a home-maker of Thoraipakkam, her family has been long-time consumer of Aavin products. “But now curdling of milk is giving us a headache. As and when milk curdles, we need extra milk leading to additional expenses and more trips to the shop,” she said.

Consumer activist T. Sadagopan alleged that the number of complaints about Aavin milk getting spoiled had been increasing over the past few months. “People are complaining that the milk is not thick enough, meaning the fat and non-fat content are not properly balanced. In some places, people are getting milk with milk-powder solids in it.”

S. A. Ponnusamy of the Tamil Nadu Milk Dealers’ Employees’ Welfare Association said as a consumer even he faced issues due to quality of the milk.

“The milk powder settles down in the utensil when I boil it. Unless Aavin increases procurement, these issues will continue. They are struggling with procurement of 30 lakh litres a day while sale of milk stands at a little over 29 lakh litres a day. The State government should step in and ensure that the milk major gets a fresh lease of life,” he said.

However, an official in Aavin said there were no issues with the reconstitution of the milk where butter and milk powder were mixed to ensure the correct fat and solids-not-fat content in each variant.

Most complaints attributed to sachet milk (curdling, spoilage) were due to lack of cold storage facility at the retailer’s end, an issue faced by all dairy brands, the official said.

Source : The Hindu Oct 10th 2023