Mother Dairy hikes milk prices by Re 1 for half, 1 litre packs

The company has however not raised the prices of token milk (bulk-vended milk) and cow milk

Leading milk supplier Mother Dairy on Friday announced hike in milk prices by Re 1 each for both half litre and one litre packs from Saturday due to higher procurement prices.

Mother Dairy, which sells more than 30 lakh litres of milk per day in Delhi-NCR, has increased the prices after 24 months.

Early last month, dairy major Amul hiked milk prices by Re 1 per pouch of both half and one litre in Delhi-NCR.

"Mother Dairy raises its milk prices in Delhi-NCR for key polypack milk variants by Re 1 with effect from July 16, 2016," Mother Dairy said in a statement.

As per the new rates, full cream milk will be available at Rs 49 per litre, while toned milk at Rs 39 and double-toned at Rs 35 per litre.

For a half litre pack, the prices of full-cream milk has been increased to Rs 25 from Rs 24, while the rate of toned milk has been raised to Rs 20 from Rs 19 and double-toned milk to Rs 18 from Rs 17.

However, the prices of bulk vended milk, commonly referred to as token milk and cow milk, which comprises of over 30% of its total milk sales, will remain unchanged, the company said.

Token milk price remain unchanged at Rs 36/litre, while cow milk will continue to be sold at Rs 20 for half litre.

"It is important to note that the company has increased its farm prices by about 7-8 per cent in last one year while the effective consumer price hike is not more than 3 per cent," the company said.

The new prices will see an increase of Re 1 per litre and to facilitate change management, the prices of 500 ml pack have been revised and rounded off to nearest rupee, the company said, adding that it passes close to 80 per cent of the sales realisation from milk towards milk procurement.

Mother Dairy, commissioned in 1974 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), had posted a turnover of Rs 7,186 crore during last fiscal, out of which about 75% was from dairy segment.

The company sells milk and milk products including ice cream, paneer and ghee under the 'Mother Dairy' brand. It is into edible oil business under Dhara brand.

The company sells frozen vegetables, unpolished pulses and other processed foods under 'Safal' brand. Mother Dairy has 400 Safal outlets in Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru.