Mother Dairy to Achieve 20,000 Crore Turnover This Year: Manish Bandlish

Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Private Limited, one of India's largest dairy and food business companies, is confident of achieving its turnover target of Rs 20,000 crore in the current financial year (2025-26). The company is expanding its presence across the country and has already entered the markets of about a dozen states as part of its strategy to establish national brand recognition.

In a conversation with Rural Voice, Mother Dairy's Managing Director Manish Bandlish said that rising milk procurement prices are benefiting farmers. The true picture of the flush season will be clearer by December, but higher procurement prices are putting pressure on dairy companies. “As far as our target of Rs 20,000 crore turnover for this fiscal is concerned, we are well on track to achieve it,” he said. In the previous fiscal year (2024–25), Mother Dairy’s turnover stood at Rs 17,300 crore.

Strong Growth Across Categories

According to Manish Bandlish, the company's growth is strong across all product categories. Following the central government's reduction in GST rates on dairy products, the company reduced prices and passed the benefit on to consumers. However, the full benefit of the GST reduction on ice cream could not be realised in terms of increased sales this year, as the main ice cream season was over before the reduced GST rates were implemented.

Milk Procurement 

On milk procurement, Bandlish said the company’s dairy dock price has reached Rs 60 per litre for milk with 6.5% fat content. “This year, milk supply during the flush season is not very strong, though it’s too early to draw firm conclusions since festivals came early and were immediately followed by the wedding season. These events increase local milk consumption,” he noted.

The availability of fat and skimmed milk powder (SMP) is good, with SMP prices hovering around Rs 270 per kg and fat prices between Rs 425–430 per kg.

National Expansion Strategy

On Mother Dairy's expansion plans, he said the company is working on a strategy to establish itself as a brand with a strong national presence, moving beyond just being an NCR brand image. We have also received a mandate from our board for this. Along with dairy, the Dhara brand edible oil and fruit-vegetable business are also being expanded, and processing capacity is being increased.

Mother Dairy procures milk through Milk Producer Organizations (MPO). The company is working on converting MPO into a multi-commodity model so that farmers' direct participation in edible oil, fruit and vegetable business can increase. A pilot project has been started in Alwar for mustard procurement, and a similar project is being initiated in Kota.

Business Segment Performance

Edible Oil: The Dhara edible oil business is recording 15% growth, and Dhara mustard oil has a 60% share in the total edible oil business.

Milk Business Expansion: Milk sales in Rajasthan have crossed the level of 14 lakh liters per day, and a new plant is being set up there to increase new capacity. Similarly, good growth is being seen in Bihar, where a new dairy plant will be set up in Munger. The company's growth is also strong in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat.

Fruit and Vegetable Business: Bandlish said the company is taking new initiatives, including launching online sales through a dedicated app. The segment is growing at 7–8%, though it remains challenging due to quality control issues and thin margins amid high competition.

A good harvest of Alphonso and Totapuri mangoes this year kept prices low, which is expected to boost the pulp export business. The company anticipates 25–30% growth in pulp volumes this year. Mother Dairy exports mango pulp mainly to the U.S. and European markets.

Mother Dairy is also entering potato processing, with a new facility in Gujarat expected to begin production soon.