Milk co-op mktg federation makes bottled water foray

The Kerala Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (Milma) has diversified its activities in the state by venturing into the bottled water sector. A household name in the state, Milma is a leader in the milk and milk products segment.

"The federation's bottled water, marketed under the Milma brand name, has been in the market for the past 45 days and the response can be termed overwhelming," Milma managing director P R Sanjeev told Business Standard.

The federation has entered into an agreement with the Alwaye-based private company, Periyar Beverages Pvt Ltd, for custom packing of bottled water, he said.

The testing and quality measures have been done successfully and the product is at present testing the waters in the markets of Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam, Sanjeev added. "We plan to launch the product in the entire state in a short time," he said.

Explaining the potential for the bottled water business, Sanjeev said it was today seen as a very important product in the state.

Refusing to divulge the exact amount of investment incurred for the launch of the product, Sanjeev added that the invested amount had already been recovered through the sale of the branded product in a short span of time it hit the market in the three places.

Sanjeev said the Milma brand of bottled water was seen by the federation as a product which would provide added strength to its existing portfolio.

Milma is currently the leader in milk and milk products like curd, ghee as well as sweet products such as peda and cream rolls.

The Thiruvananthapuram-based Milma was established in 1980 with an aim to successfully implement Operation Flood, the dairy development programme launched by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).

It today supports 2,608 primary milk co-operative societies, 7.33 lakh farmers, three regional cooperative milk producers' unions, 10 dairies capable of handling 9.90 lakh litres of milk everyday, 14 milk chilling centres and runs 5,000 retail outlets.

The federation employs more than 30,000 people directly or indirectly. With its foray into the bottled water segment, Milma can now look forward to cementing the brand name with added vigour across Kerala homes.