Mother Dairy turns the heat on Amul

The fight for marketshare in the branded packaged milk segment has intensified in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) with Mother Dairy trashing Amul's claim that it is the new leader in these areas. Mother Dairy says that it sells 2.8 million litres per day and not 1.45 million litres per day, as indicated by Amul. The latter had said on February 16 that it was leading in the branded packaged or pouch milk segment in Delhi and NCR with sales of over 1.5 million litres per day.

Paul Thacil, chief executive officer, (dairy & foods), Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt Ltd, says that the brand's position is intact in its traditional markets of Delhi and NCR. He says, “We understand the growing demand for milk and milk products in the region. We will enhance our milk sales to 3 millon litres per day in the near term.”

Amul is also looking to boost its milk sales to over 2 million litres per day this summer in view of the growing demand in the region. The liquid milk market in the capital is over 6 million litres per day. This includes both packaged milk and loose milk.

Amul, according to R S Sodhi, chief general manager, marketing, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, operates in the packaged milk segment only in Delhi and NCR. “We don’t play in the loose milk segment, which is also quite large at over 2.5 million litres per day in Delhi and NCR. Mother Dairy is the leader there.

One reason for Amul’s lack of presence in the loose milk segment in the capital is the absence of its own milk booths there. Amul depends totally on 9,000 retail outlets in the region to push sales there. Sodhi says that the cooperative is looking at enhancing its retail presence in the capital to push up sales.

Mother Dairy meanwhile has a network of 14,000 retail outlets and 845 exclusive stores to push sales. That clearly works to its advantage, say observers. “Mother Dairy has been around for a long time in the capital. It has a strong distribution network which ensures that milk delivery is not hampered,” says an executive with a food & beverage firm.

Amul, in contrast, entered the Delhi market in 2005 only. It has four dairies at the moment in the region that pack milk for it. “There are no plans at the moment to increase the number of dairies. We may take that call later,” says Sodhi.

Even then Amul has been been looking at ways and means to increase its share in the liquid milk market in different metros. The aim is to try and sustain its leadership position in these areas. For instance, Amul is the largest player in the packaged milk segment in Mumbai supplying 650,000 litres per day in the city. In Kolkata, the brand is at the top again supplying 400,000 litres per day in the city.

Delhi has been one market however that hasn’t been easy to crack for Amul, given the domination of Mother Dairy for over 35 years now. A strong network and retail distribution has meant that Mother Dairy is competitively priced to Amul in the region. A litre of Mother Dairy’s full-cream milk is available at Rs 2 less than Amul’s variant. A litre of Mother Dairy’s toned milk, on the other hand, is even cheaper, available at Rs 22 to Amul’s Rs 23.