To cater to the rising demand from consumers, the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) is all set to sell buffalo milk. The sales will start from December 21 and 22 in markets across the state and will be priced around Rs 70-75. The final price is yet to be decided, a senior KMF official said.

KMF Managing Director MK Jagadish told The New Sunday Express that initially, half-litre milk packets will be launched. Two years ago, KMF was selling around 4,000- 5,000 litres of buffalo milk, but stopped due to shortage of supply. “Sales and supplies will commence shortly and a spurt in demand for buffalo milk is expected, alongside cow milk and its products,” he added.

The milk will be procured from farmers in Vijayapura and Belagavi as all the unions do not have enough buffaloes to supply milk. There are sufficient buffaloes in North Karnataka, which is why milk will be procured from there. Depending on the market and demand, the procurement will increase, Jagadish said

Another KMF official said there is rising competition from other brands in the supply of milk, and Nandini and KMF do not want to lag behind in any product. There is already intense competition for the supply of ghee and milk.

“Organisations, including private and religious, contact us for milk, ghee and butter. We qualify in technical details, but lose out in financial bids. We recently lost the bid to supply ghee to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Trust Board for laddoos,” the official added.KMF now sells 46 lakh litres of milk and 10 lakh litres of curd every day in the State and across borders.

Source : The New Indian Express Dec 17th 2023