Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (KCMMF), known by its brand Milma, is working on a multi-pronged strategy to strengthen the State’s cooperative dairy sector and attain self-sufficiency in milk production, as envisaged by the State Government, Milma Chairman K S Mani has said.
Enhancing productivity and supporting the dairy farmers burdened by increase in input cost, are the key components in this process, Mani said to mark World Milk Day, observed on June 1.
The state government has been implementing several projects to increase milk production and meet the entire domestic demand. The three-tier local self-government institutions play a vital role in the delivery of these schemes and enhance productivity while ensuring the welfare of the farmers. Milma on its part has initiated several measures with the support of the Government, Mani said.
Milma has made a significant turnaround from the grim challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, posting a higher turnover of ₹4,311 crore in 2023-24, with the strategic brand re-positioning initiative yielding handsome results.
Bridging the gap between domestic milk production and demand is a priority issue for Milma, he said. Milma procured an average 10.31 lakhs litres of milk a day in April 2024, which increased to 11.96 lakh litres in May, while the sales stood at 17.56 lakh litres. Going forward, our focus will be on attaining self-sufficiency in milk production to meet the entire demand,” he said.
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The cooperative dairy movement has made remarkable contributions in India, becoming the world’s largest producer of milk and accounting for 24.64 per cent of the global production, he said.
The company has now over 10 lakh dairy farmers affiliated to its network of around 3300 primary milk cooperative societies, organised under its three regional unions — Malabar, Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram.
“Repositioning Milma 2023”, the brand makeover initiative launched by KCMMF last year saw the launch of a variety of new products like chocolates, butter biscuits and ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat instant mixes besides standardising the price, quality and packaging of liquid milk, curd and other dairy staples from the three regional unions. This process has imparted a big thrust to the market expansion of Milma.
