Mother Dairy eyes 20% growth in pro-biotic range

Ventured into probiotics space around 2007-08 with the launch of 'b-Activ' probiotic curd

Mother Dairy, the popular dairy outfit based out of the National Capital Region (NCR), is aiming to grow at 20% in the probiotic range of products that it offers.

Mother Dairy Fruits & Vegetable private limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). It ventured into the probiotics space around 2007-08 with the launch of the 'b-Activ' probiotic curd. Going forward, Mother Dairy launched 'Nutrifit' pro-biotic milk that helps in boosting immunity levels in kids.

Munish Soni, general manager,marketing , dairy products division, Mother Dairy, said, "We have received a very favorable response which is in line with our expectations for these new products. We will keep strengthening our product portfolio with products with added health benefits in near future."

He added, "We are growing at 20% and we expect to continue growing at this rate." Today, in curd, the probiotic range contributes approximately 10% of total sales in the category.

As a strategy, Mother Dairy has decided not to charge any premium for this range of products. As Soni puts it, "we have decided that we will not charge any premium for these categories. These categories are still  in very nascent stage and we want minimum resistance from consumers to try or adopt these categories. The price of our probiotic curd is similar to plain curd."

As for the market size of the probiotic range of products in the country, Soni said that it is still in very nascent stage and there is no syndicated data available for the category.

However, the overall, health and wellness food and beverages sector in India was estimated at Rs 16,000 crore in fiscal year 2011 and is expected to grow at nearly 22% reaching Rs 36,000 crore by fiscal 2015.

In the probiotics space, Nestle launched probioticdahi in 2007 under the Nesvita brand, Amul offers probiotic lassis and ice creams. Danone-Yakult joint venture products in the category are also available in the market now.