Purabi Dairy’s Sweet Entry Boosts Assam Farmers
Purabi Mithai — the new traditional sweets range from Purabi Dairy — was officially launched by West Assam Milk Producers’ Cooperative Union Ltd (WAMUL) and will be marketed by Northeast Dairy and Foods Limited (NEDFL), a joint venture of Assam Government and NDDB. The move marks Purabi’s entry into the traditional Indian sweets market.
Purabi Dairy says this expansion is aimed at enhancing value — for its consumers and for dairy farmers. By adding sweets to the product mix, the cooperative expects to channel higher milk procurement, thereby guaranteeing better returns to its member-farmers.
During the launch, five dairy farmers associated with Purabi were felicitated in Assam’s state-level National Milk Day celebrations — recognising their contributions and underlining the link between product expansion and farmer growth.
Why It Matters
Purabi Dairy is already a major dairy cooperative in Northeast India. Under a recent MoU with NDDB, WAMUL plans to double its processing capacity — upgrading its Panjabari plant from 1.5 lakh litres per day (LLPD) to 3 LLPD — thereby aiming to meet rising consumer demand and strengthen the supply chain across Assam. (By launching a value-added segment like sweets, Purabi is not just selling dairy — it is adding value to raw milk. This helps in stabilizing milk demand, reducing dependency on fluid-milk sales alone, and potentially smoothing out income variability for farmers.
Moreover, in previous years (e.g. during Magh Bihu festival), Purabi Dairy already recorded very high demand: daily sales of over 2 lakh litres of milk and milk products — a sign that its distribution network and brand presence in Assam are strong.
Thus, the sweets venture could be a strategic step to absorb more milk — particularly surplus or buffalo-milk — channel it into value-added products, and support both consumer preferences and farmer livelihoods.
What to Watch
- Whether “Purabi Mithai” sells at volumes comparable to Purabi’s regular dairy products. High uptake will validate the value-addition strategy.
- If increased milk procurement translates into higher incomes for farmers — the core objective of this diversification.
- Expansion beyond Assam: if the sweets line becomes popular, Purabi may look to scale to other North-East markets or urban centres outside the region.
- Stability of supply chain: integration of sweets production may require additional logistics (cold-chain, hygiene, quality), which will test Purabi’s processing capacity and management systems.