No bid to monopolise-Jayen Mehta on Nandini-Aavin row

Amul, which recently faced a political backlash in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for trying to sell dairy products in these states, said on Tuesday that there was “no attempt to monopolise or dominate” the local milk cooperative brands like Nandini and Aavin.

Jayen Mehta, in charge managing director of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) — an umbrella organisation of milk cooperatives in Gujarat that owns the brand Amul — said: “Cooperatives do not compete with each other. We work together and keep the private and multinationals away. If India has become the largest producer of milk in the world then it is because this Amul model got replicated in different parts (of India).”

“It was not Amul who was owning these (milk cooperative) brands in the states. It is the farmers who own them. Had there been a tendency to monopolise or dominate, then Amul could have kept its own brand name, as it was a model that Amul started. But it was never the case,” Mehta.

He had come to the city to attend an event organised by RSS-affiliated Panchjanya, added.

sked about the controversy with Karnataka Milk Federation’s brand Nandini, he said, “There is no controversy. Both Amul and Nandani are synonymous with each other. Both are cooperatives whose owners are farmers.

“There was an attempt to create a controversy, but we told the people that Amul ice cream is being made in Nandini’s plants for the last 25 years and both the cooperatives have been working together.”

Mehta further said that during Covid-19 pandemic, when Nandini had surplus milk and had no market to sell, Amul had bought 5,000 tonne of cheese from Nandini.

Karnataka, which was heading for Assembly elections, saw a political slugfest erupt after Amul, on April 5, announced its entry into fresh dairy market in Bengaluru by introducing fresh milk and curd.

This was politically seen as an attempt to infiltrate into a space occupied by the local milk cooperative brand Nandini.

Speaking about the controversy with Aavin brand owned by Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Limited, Mehta said, “We will not get into that. But the fact is we have been working with them in Tamil Nadu for a long time. Last year, when they did not have any fat, we supplied ghee to them in very quantities at a price lower than the market. During Covid-19, we supplied close to 65,000 tonne of cattle feed to them. Similarly, more than 15-20 lakh semen doses are supplied to Tamil Nadu every year. So, there is no question of any controversy.”

In May, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, wrote to Union Minister for Cooperation Amit Shah to “direct” Amul to “desist from procuring milk from Aavin’s milk shed areas”.

Stalin pointed out that the move by Amul “will create unhealthy competition between cooperatives engaged in procuring and marketing milk products” and such cross-procurement goes against the spirit of Operation Flood.

Source : Indian Express October 11th 2023