THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The battle between the milk federations of Kerala and Karnataka is reaching a boiling point, as aggressive sales tactics and cross-border competition escalate. The Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) has recently expanded its presence by opening three additional outlets of its Nandini brand in Kerala, bringing the total number of outlets to five within just six months. The Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (KCMMF) known by its brand ‘Milma’ has opposed the sale of liquid milk through the outlets.
There are enough signals that the fight is unlikely to be confined to just the milk federations, as political factors surrounding cross-border sales are now entering the debate, potentially drawing more states into the fight.
Milma faces the arduous task of countering the aggressive marketing activities of the Nandini and other smear campaigns in social media against the Kerala brand. These campaigns aim to raise doubts about the cost, quality, and overall business practices of Milma. “There has been a deliberate attempt to create an impression that our products are costlier and of lower quality than Nandini, even when the fact is exactly the opposite. It is part of a ploy to destroy the diary farmers and Milma,” said Milma chairman K S Mani.
Contrary to the smear campaign, the blue packet of Milma is priced at Rs 26, while Nandini sells milk of the same quality for Rs 27 in their outlets.
What Mani hates the most was the campaign that Milma products are inferior. It was only a few weeks ago that the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying certified that the Malabar Regional Cooperative Milk Producers under Milma produced the best quality milk in the country. The microbial activity in Milma’s milk (204 minutes) takes longer time to allow microbial activity when compared to Nandini’s (190 minutes). Mani has another point about the quality of milk procured and processed in one state and transported to another state for sale.
“If we go by Nandini’s strategy and decide to sell milk in Karnataka, a customer gets the milk procured two days before. We cannot call it fresh milk. Here we are giving milk collected in the evening to the public the very next morning,” said Mani.
Dairy Development Minister J Chinchu Rani was more straight when she addressed the issue. “The quality of Nandini milk is poor and I request the people of Kerala to consume Milma milk, as milk is mostly consumed by kids in our homes,” she said. Mani also thinks that Nandini’s milk sale was not only damaging the livelihood of the dairy farmers here but, in a way, exploiting the public. “If people complain that Nandini is exploiting the consumers in Kerala by selling milk at a higher cost, I have to agree. Because they could easily sell it cheaper considering the low procurement price and government subsidy in Karnataka,” he said.
While Milma claims that Nandini’s entry has not yet affected its monopoly over milk market, there are genuine concerns about KMF, the second-largest dairy federation in the country, potentially taking over the market. “Milma cannot fight with Amul or Nandini which are the two largest federations in the country.
Once a market takeover happens, the kind of support the dairy farmers enjoy through the support of Milma and the government will not be the same,” said an officer. He pointed out that the farmers and the KMF opposed the entry of Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (Amul) in Karnataka for the same reason. As the milk war intensifies, more states voiced their concerns over cross-border milk sales at a meeting of National Dairy Development Board.