Kerala's Milk Cooperative Raises Concerns Over Nandini's Retail Entry Amid Amul Row In Karnataka

Amid the Nandini vs Amul row in Karnataka, Kerala’s milk cooperative has raised concerns over a retail foray by the Karnataka Milk Federation's (KMF) brand in the state.

The Karnataka Milk Federation, which sells dairy products under the brand name 'Nandini', recently opened a few outlets in Kerala.

The KMF has also announced a plan to allow franchise outlets across the state.

However, KMF's move has prompted the management of the Kerala Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (KCMMF), which runs the popular Milma brand in the state, to write to Nandini, sharing concerns about the Karnataka dairy cooperative's proposed plans for Kerala.

The Kerala cooperative has 15 lakh dairy farmer members, along with over 3,000 cooperatives under its umbrella.

According to an Indian Express report, Milma chairman K S Mani said there has been a growing tendency on the part of some state milk marketing federations (Nandini) to market staple products outside their respective domain.

“This grossly violates federal principles and the cooperative spirit based on which the country’s dairy cooperative movement has been built and nurtured by pioneers like Tribhuvandas Patel and Dr Verghese Kurien," Mani was quoted as saying by IE.

"This move is against the basic tenets of cooperative spirit," Mani said.

"Whether a brand from another state will affect our market or not is a secondary matter," he added.

He said every federation has its earmarked domain and Milma is only concerned about the cross-border sale of the liquid milk brand of Nandini, while other products are already in the market.

Mani also mentioned the growing resistance in Karnataka against Amul's entry into their market.

"When stakeholders of Karnataka Milk Federation are strongly opposing the entry of Amul to their market, how can the Karnataka Federation’s entry into Kerala be justified? This is unethical and defeats the very purpose of the country’s dairy cooperative movement,’’ he said.

According to Mani, Milma is an important client for Karnataka Milk Federation, with purchases of up to 200,000 litres a day from Nandini during milk shortages in Kerala.

"There are occasions when we purchase 2 lakh litres of milk a day from Nandini. Their bid to start retail sales in Kerala will harm our interests and it’s mutually destructive,” Mani said.

Milma channels 83 per cent of its turnover to farmers via cooperative societies. Further, a major portion of Milma’s surplus is given to farmers as additional incentive on milk price and subsidy on cattle feed.

“It is in the best interests of dairy cooperative federations of various states that they refrain from plans to open sales outlets or make franchisee arrangements to sell liquid milk and other staple products outside the respective state,” the Milma chairman said.