Though the festival time is supposed to have an increased impact on the sale of milk, statistics indicate that the sale has come down slightly because more people are moving out of the city owing to the holidays.
The sale has reportedly come down by around 70,000 litres per day for the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF), which is the second largest federation in the country after Amul. However, the KMF has not had any financial implication as this downward trend has been compensated by the increasing demand for ghee, which has gone up by 35-40 per cent according to a KMF official.
Marketing manager of BMU (Bangalore Milk Union) Krishne Gowda says, “This situation prevails during every important festival and every year. Ramzan is the only festival when the demand for milk increases and milk production also goes up. Though the sale relatively comes down during the festival time, our production remains the same which is 11 lakh litres per day of which 9 lakh litres is for buttermilk, butter/ghee and milk alone. The remaining milk is converted into skimmed milk powder which is sold or exported.”
BMU is one of the 13 milk unions which falls under the KMF. The surplus milk produced is also converted into skimmed milk powder. To produce one kilogram of skimmed milk powder, 11 litres of milk is required. It may be noted that the government had lifted ban on export of skimmed milk powder (SMP) few months ago, in order to improve finances of dairy firms and help milk producers.
A shopkeeper who operates in Koramangala says, “The sales have come down in the past ten days. This is the case during all big festivals. The demand for ghee has gone up thanks to Ayudha pooja and more people preparing sweets.”
Dr V Laxman Reddy, Managing Director of BMU also opines that ‘movement of people’ out of Bangalore is the main reason for this trend. “There is more demand from hotels and sweet shops as well during this time, but it is overshadowed by the fall in sale of units to individual consumers.”
Joint Director of the milk union, D Prasunna says,”There is at least a fall of 20,000-30,000 litres per day in terms of sales. But, we make up for this loss as soon as the schools reopen and people return to the city.”