Dairy giant Amul eyes global expansion as “Taste of India” milk makes US debut

26 Mar 2024 --- The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) — which markets and sells milk under the “Amul” brand in India — has joined forces with the Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA) to sell “fresh milk” in the US market for the “first time.” 

The decision comes at the heels of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging farmers at GCMMF to “emerge as world’s largest dairy” last month.

Targeting the Indian diaspora and Asian population in the US, the GCMMF will manage the marketing and branding, while the MMPA — the US’s tenth largest dairy cooperative — will handle milk collection and processing operations.

“We have been exporting dairy products for many decades. This is the first time we are launching fresh milk outside India,” says GCMMF MD Jayen Mehta, managing director of GCMMF. 

“The recipe will be ours. Within one week, Amul Taaza, Amul Gold, Amul Shakti and Amul Slim n Trim will be available in the US market.”

He expects a “good response” from consumers, adding that Amul will focus on branding and marketing for the next three to four months.

GCMMF had an annual turnover of US$7.2 billion in 2022-23 and currently exports its dairy products to about 50 countries.

Taking fresh milk overseas
The largest dairy cooperative in India will roll out four variants of milk in the US market — Amul Gold (with 6% milk fat), Amul Shakti (4.5%), Amul Taaza (3%) and Amul Slim n Trim (2%), which will be sold in New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Washington, Dallas and Texas among others, Mehta reveals.

In the future, Amul also plans to launch other indigenous dairy products like including curd, buttermilk and paneer in the US. The fresh milk range will be marketed in one-gallon (3.8 liters) and half-a-gallon (1.9 liters) packs under the Amul brand in Indian stores in the US’s East Coast and Midwest markets.

Post the launch of fresh milk, the dairy cooperative is planning to usher in other indigenous dairy products, including curd, buttermilk and paneer (soft cheese prepared by acid and heat coagulation of milk) in the country to cater to the consumers’ rising demands.

Amul will tap into MMPA’s technological capabilities to introduce its fresh milk products in the US, a member-owned milk marketing cooperative with four processing plants, including a dairy product facility in Ohio, two dairy ingredient sites in Michigan and a cheese factory in Indiana.

Driving self-sufficiency
GCMMF is one of the world’s largest farmer-owned cooperatives and its partnership with the MMPA builds on Amul’s long-standing relationship with Michigan. 

Dr. Verghese Kurien, the founder chairman of GCMMF was an alumnus of the Michigan State University. He was instrumental in developing the ‘Amul’ brand to market the milk and milk products of the local milk unions. 

Amul focuses on empowering dairy farmers through cooperative structures and middlemen elimination.According to the Indian Council of Agriculture and Research, Dr. Kurien started “Operation Flood” in the 1970s, intending to make India self-sufficient in milk production.

The initiative “revolutionized” the region’s production, procurement and marketing of milk and other farm produce through cooperative institutional setup. This led to India becoming the number one milk producer in the world, accounting for 22% of global production, according to the FAO.

Empowering farmers
Headquartered in Gujarat, India, GCMMF has 18 member unions in the state, with 3.64 million dairy farmers who procure approximately 30 million liters of milk daily to process it across 100 dairy plants in the country.

Amul works on a dairy development model focusing on increasing milk production, enhancing dairy infrastructure and empowering dairy farmers through cooperative structures.

It is a three-tiered structure in which the dairy cooperative societies at the village level are integrated under a milk union at the district level and a federation of member unions at the state level. 

The model empowers farmers by establishing a direct link between milk producers and consumers by eliminating middlemen, giving them control over procurement, processing and marketing and providing them with professional management services.

By Insha Naureen