After making Rs 15,000cr turnover, Mother Dairy now targets 15pc growth: MD Manish Bandlish
Mother Dairy is expanding its business in Vidarbha, Marathwada, Telangana and Rajasthan with an increasing portfolio of milk, ice cream, butter, curd and value-added products.
Harvir Singh
Mother Dairy Fruit and Vegetable Private Limited, the owner of Mother Dairy, the second largest brand in the country's dairy sector, is continuously expanding its market. In the last financial year (2023-24), Mother Dairy achieved a turnover of Rs 15,000 crore and in the current financial year (2024-25) it is aiming to increase it by 15 percent. The company is expanding its business in Vidarbh, Marathwada, Telangana and Rajasthan with an increasing portfolio of milk, ice cream, butter, curd and value-added products. Along with this, Mother Dairy is going to set up its new plant with a capacity of six lakh liters per day in Nagpur.
Mother Dairy is likely to purchase an average of 60 lakh liters of milk per day in the current financial year. Apart from milk and milk products, Mother Dairy is expecting better growth in the current year with the continuous increase in the business of fruits, vegetables, frozen products and value-added products as well as Dhara brand vegetable oil. Manish Bandlish, Managing Director of Mother Dairy, in an exclusive ineraction with Rural Voice, gave detailed information about the company's plans and business targets for the current financial year.
Bandlish says that this year the dairy business is likely to be better than last year. There were some fluctuations in the procurement prices of milk this year but now they are stable. Mother Dairy procures milk through producer companies set up by farmers and also directly from cattle farmers. At the same time, it also purchases fruits and vegetables directly from farmers to sell them through Safal stores. Being a subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), it is also the mandate of Mother Dairy to procure the products directly from the farmers so that they can get better prices.
Expansion in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh
In response to a question, Bandlish said, "We had started the project five years ago with the aim of improving the economic condition of the farmers of Vidarbha and Marathwada. The result has been that now we are purchasing four lakh liters of milk every day from 28,000 farmers there. For this, we have set up a plant in Nagpur. Now we are setting up a second plant. Just a few days ago, we got possession of the land allotted for this plant. This plant will become operational in the next two years. The capacity of this plant, which has a processing capacity of six lakh litres, can be increased to one million liters per day. Soon the milk procurement there will reach five to six lakh liters per day. Through this plant, we will be able to deliver our products to the markets of Maharashtra as well as Chhattisgarh because Nagpur is a centrally located place. Along with installing a dryer for the production of Skimmed Milk Powder (SMP), an ice cream production plant will be set up there."
Emphasis on motherhood
Mother Dairy recognizes the enduring significance of maternal values. Manish Bandlish says, "At Mother Dairy, we believe in infusing every aspect of our work with the same love and care that a mother provides by ensuring quality ingredients to craft delightful products, our commitment to excellence is rooted in these timeless values and remains steadfast." Commemorating 50 years of establishment, Mother Dairy rolled out its brand campaign “Mamta Jaisi Shudh, Maa Jaisi Mamta" penned by eminent poet Gulzar.
Export of pulp to 40 countries
On the current ice cream business, the MD of Mother Dairy said that currently 70 percent of our ice cream business is in North India but now we will expand it to other states also. Mother Dairy was established in 1974 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). This was an initiative under Operation Flood, the world's largest dairy development programme. Under this, a market was to be created for milk farmers and milk was to be made available to urban consumers.
Regarding the business of the successful brand, he told Rural Voice, "We are selling fruits and vegetables through our outlets. For this, different parts of the country buy agricultural products. Mother Dairy's frozen products business has also increased rapidly. Apart from this, Alphonso and Totapuri mangoes are also processed in the pulp production plants located in Ranchi and Bengaluru, and tomatoes and bananas are also processed along with corn in Ranchi. We are exporting pulp to 40 countries. Pulp business is business to business i.e. B2B. It is sold to companies manufacturing food products."
Tremendous jump in Dhara sales
Mother Dairy management is very excited about the country's first edible oil brand Dhara to be sold in tetra packs. Manish Bendlish says that there has been a tremendous jump in the sales of Dhara in the last few years. About 65 percent share in this is of Kachchi Ghani and other variants of mustard oil, which are growing rapidly in the market of Bihar and North-East. Curd business, established as a big business in South India, is also growing rapidly in North India. Manish says that now the bulk business of curd in big packaging is increasing here too. Its demand has increased rapidly in other categories of catering and food business. We are also increasing it. Although this business is B2B.
Regarding the target of increasing the business of the current year by about 15 percent as compared to last year, the MD of Mother Dairy says that we are pursuing this target on the basis of volume i.e. selling more quantity of products. The increase in prices has not yet been made the basis of this. In such a situation, his statement is good news for the consumers because his statement indicates that there is no possibility of an increase in the prices of milk or its products in the coming days.
