Currently No Plans to increase milk prices : Jayen Mehta MD Amul

GCMMF, which sells dairy products under the Amul brand, expects a 20 per cent growth in its revenue this fiscal to around Rs 66,000 crore on rising demand, its MD Jayen Mehta said. The Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (GCMMF) has registered a turnover of Rs 55,055 crore in 2022-23, an increase of 18.5 per cent over the previous year.

In an interview with PTI, the MD (in-charge) of GCMMF said that it had reported a strong growth in revenue in the last financial year as the demand for branded dairy products increased post-Covid. ,

“We expect the sales momentum to continue across our product portfolio. Demand is shifting from unorganized to organized players.

Mehta said the federation is also focusing on growing organic food and edible oil businesses, which are currently very small. When asked about milk prices, Mehta said, “As of now we have no plans to increase rates.”

He informed that input cost has increased by 15 per cent last year, forcing the cooperative society to increase the retail prices to some extent last year. The GCMMF did not hike prices in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid, he said, adding that rates were hiked a few times last year.

GCMMF pays about 80 per cent of the retail price to dairy farmers. Mehta said that GCMMF’s milk procurement has increased in March and will increase this month also.

“Farmers are getting good prices. That’s why the supply of milk is improving,” he said. South India will also start flush season soon, which will increase the supply.

Mehta said post-Covid demand picked up sharply in 2022 and the trend will continue, though the pace of growth should slow down this year based on the base effect. He also said that the demand-supply situation will remain balanced in the near future.

GCMMF currently has 98 milk processing plants across the country with an installed capacity of 470 lakh liters per day. It is collecting an average of 270 lakh liters per day.

The MD said that the federation would expand the capacity by 30-40 lakh liters per day in the next two years. In the last financial year, GCMMF registered a 21 per cent growth in fresh produce, which accounts for 50 per cent of its turnover.

The ice cream range grew by 41 per cent. “We have achieved volume sales growth across all product categories. Pouch milk, which is the product with the highest turnover, has shown double digit growth in volumes.

Besides this, our products like butter, ghee, ice cream, UHT milk, flavored milk, paneer and fresh cream have also registered double digit growth,” Mehta had said recently.