Dairy Traceability: Doodhvale Farms CEO Shares 3 Powerful Pillars for Trusted Brands

Dairy traceability, not just price or packaging, will decide which Indian milk brands earn lasting consumer trust. That is the argument made by the chief executive of Delhi-based Doodhvale Farms in a column for The Hindu BusinessLine, summarised by The DairyNews on 7 November.

Why Dairy Traceability Matters in India

India produces nearly a quarter of the world's milk, more than any other country. Its cooperatives built that scale by collecting milk from millions of small producers. The CEO notes that this aggregation made milk widely available and affordable, but also made its origin harder to identify. Milk reaching a single urban home may come from hundreds of animals across dozens of villages, after passing through collection centres and several intermediaries.

Meanwhile, households are shifting from loose milk to packaged, branded products. Younger urban consumers increasingly see food as preventive healthcare and want to know which farm supplied their milk, when it was milked and what checks it passed. Companies buying from unidentified, pooled supplies cannot answer those questions reliably, the CEO argues, which makes control of the supply chain essential for dairy traceability.

Pillar 1: Separation Before Collection

At Doodhvale Farms, buffaloes, cows producing A2 milk and cows producing regular milk are housed on separate farms that follow the company's standards. This separation is the first step in dairy traceability, because each product can be traced back to its source. The CEO stresses that farm photos and QR codes are only useful when backed by such operating arrangements.

Pillar 2: Checks at Every Handover

Milk is tested on the farm, again on arrival at the processing facility, after pasteurisation and in the final pack. More advanced analysis is carried out at NABL-accredited laboratories. For dairy traceability, every transfer, the CEO says, is a point where problems can enter, so testing at successive stages is central to the company's approach. He admits that running such a system is difficult and costly.

Pillar 3: Records Customers Can See

Through the company's app, customers can view farm footage, laboratory reports and farm audit results. Doodhvale Farms also manages processing, refrigerated handling and delivery, allowing milk to reach customers within 36 hours of milking. Opening up these records lets buyers check the basis of the company's product claims, a key part of credible dairy traceability.

Rewarding Better Farming

The CEO also argues that dairy traceability, by identifying milk's origin, can reward farmers who invest in hygienic housing, better feed and veterinary care. Under pooled procurement, such farmers may earn the same as those who cut corners. He calls for professionally run, technology-led farms supported by committed buyers and clear standards, and says reducing adulteration will need verifiable milk histories alongside testing.

About Doodhvale Farms

Founded in 2019 and led by co-founder and CEO Aman J Jain, Doodhvale Farms processes milk at its own facility in Sonipat, Haryana, and delivers fresh dairy across northern India through a company-run cold chain. The company reports an annual revenue run-rate of about Rs 100 crore and is expanding into protein-rich dairy products under its Pro+ range.

What It Means for the Dairy Industry

Dairy traceability is moving from a marketing claim to an operational requirement. Recent adulteration seizures, such as the mawa seized in Ahmedabad, show why consumers and regulators are asking harder questions about where dairy products come from.

For large cooperatives, full farm-level dairy traceability is harder to achieve, but tools such as digital milk collection records, batch coding and village-level quality testing can close part of the gap. For private and D2C brands, traceability can be a clear point of difference in a crowded market.

The key takeaway: Dairy traceability, built on separate sourcing, testing at every stage and records open to customers, is emerging as the foundation of trust for Indian milk brands.

Read the summary on The DairyNews.

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine, The DairyNews | DairyNews7x7