India Says ‘No’ to Chinese Dairy Products [ Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration - India's Most Effective Refrigeated Trucks ]

The strong message comes as China’s steps to improve product safety and regain consumer confidence are slow to materialize.

By Fran Howard, Agweb contributing writer

The world’s second most populous country and its largest producer of milk gave China a strong message by reiterating that it would not import any of its milk-based food products.

India reaffirmed its ban on Chinese milk and dairy products recently, extending the sanction through June 22, 2015, according to USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). Banned products include chocolates, chocolate products, candies, and other foods made with milk or milk solids.

"India’s ban on Chinese milk and dairy products has been in place since 2008," says Sara Dorland, analsyst with the Daily Dairy Report and managing partner at Ceres Dairy Risk Management, Seattle. The ban went into effect shortly after China’s dairy industry suffered a scandal related to milk tainted with melamine, which killed four children and sickened thousands of others.

"Since then China has been taking steps to improve product safety and regain consumer confidence, but the road to recovery for China’s dairy industry has been peppered with setbacks and has been slow to materialize," says Dorland. "Measures taken since 2013, however, appear to be giant strides toward repairing some of the country’s food-safety problems."

Second only to China, India has an estimated population of more than 1.26 billion people as well as a growing economy.

"India’s consumer class is expanding, and dairy consumption is growing around 5 percent per year, and India needs to keep pace with this growth," says Dorland. "India’s dairy industry is still primarily a subsistence pastoral system, which means it is affected by adverse weather conditions. When India falls behind in domestic production, the country will import dairy products."

As the world’s largest producer of milk—at least when buffalo milk is included—the country is expected to produce 140.6 million tons of milk this year, accounting for roughly 17 percent of the world’s total milk supply. In 1990-91, the country produced 53.9 million pounds, according to FAS.

"India’s ban is likely political in nature rather than substantive as the country has not imported dairy solids of consequence from any nation since 2012," says Dorland. FAS projects that India will not import any nonfat dry milk, fluid milk, or butterfat this year.

Like China, India is trying to grow its dairy industry. The Indian government recently launched dairy development programs and is strengthening the infrastructure.

India’s National Dairy Plan, approved in February 2012, is expected to inject $416 million into the industry through 2017 to meet the need for an expected 150 million tons of domestic milk production. Initiatives under India’s National Dairy Plan include increasing productivity through scientific breeding and nutrition and strengthening village-based milk procurement systems, according to FAS.

"Despite India importing very little dairy, India does import other products from China," notes Dorland. In 2012, India imported $66.57 billion in products from China, according to the Brookings Institute.

"There is a chance that without the ban, dairy product from China could come in," she adds. "But India, as the world’s largest producer of milk, has a vested interest protecting its industry."

Indian dairy sector set for overhaul; to move from processors to producers [ Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration - India's Most Effective Cold Plate Refrigerated Trucks ]

India has the maximum number of cows and buffalos in dairy production: about 300 million. It is also the global leader in milk production: about 135 million tonnes a year. Neither figure impresses Trevor Tomkins of the US-based Venture Dairy, an early-stage impact investing firm focused on dairying in developing countries.


"India produces that quantity of milk from far too many cows," he says. The efficiency of the Indian dairying sector is abysmally low. The best- run farms in the world produce 1.6 kg of milk for every kg of feed, explains Tomkins; in India it's less than a kg.

In India, dairying is predominantly unorganised and the sector is dependent on rural households for supplies; over 70 million of 147 million households in India depend on dairy for their livelihood. They have been largely left to their devices and they continue to milk animals that produce around 3 litres a day.

"This can be easily taken to 15 litres with better nutrition and farm management," says Tomkins. "It's not rocket science."

Why then hasn't this happened? The companies and cooperatives that anchor the dairy sector are content presiding over primitive milk-collection systems. It's just a milk mop-up model that is at work. "The farmlevel contribution of NDDB (National Dairy Development Board) is little," explains GNS Reddy, founder of Akshayakalpa, which is setting up a hub-and-spoke dairy cluster of 300 organic dairy farms in Karnataka.

And why didn't they focus on the upstream of the value chain? "Because the milk processors have done very well for themselves and just don't find the need to invest time and money in small-holders," explains Tomkins.

Also, the Indian dairy sector is highly fragmented, with organised players having only about 18% of the market, which contributes to the disarray at the farmer's end.

Producer Focus

The processors are just about coping with the increasing demand for milk. According to Ladderup, a financial advisory, the Indian dairy sector generated revenue of $55 billion in 2012 and is expected to reach $118 billion by 2017. Amul (Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation) has had a good run in recent years. It recorded a turnover of `18,000 crore in 2013-14, a 32% growth over the previous year.

Western markets are saturated and the action is evidently moving to emerging economies, which are at the threshold of a huge spurt in milk demand. Tetra Pak projects a 30% growth in dairy consumption in developing countries over the next decade and is banking on the 2.7 billion low-income consumer pool as the global dairy industry's next big opportunity.

This is the reason why Tomkins has been traveling across India, China, and parts of Latin America and east Africa over the past year since he formed Venture Dairy. The potential is huge, but it requires a radical systemic change in the way business is organised and conducted.

He would like to chaperone Indian dairying from a "subsistence" type of activity to robust commercial models. "Dairying families and communities have to be made profitable and productive economic units," says Tomkins. "Only then can they transition from 25 to 100 cows to maybe 500 cows."

He believes dairying can be sustainable only if food systems are integrated with a deeper understanding and engagement on nutrition and feeding. "Farms that don't produce a large proportion of their feed are simply not sustainable" he explains. Tomkins, who is impressed with the Akshayakalpa model, visited the project site recently for a possible second round of funding. "We have to produce milk where it is consumed," says GNS Reddy of Akshayakalpa, who is passionate about environmental and sustainability issues, like Tomkins.

A local, decentralised, community-focused approach would be ideal for a country like India with millions of small-holder farmers. Tomkins, with nearly four decades in dairying, has seen it all in the US and elsewhere, and doesn't approve of the CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operations) or the 'factory farm' way of dairying, in which thousands of animals, pumped with antibiotics and hormones, are subject to lifelong, indoor confinement in a single location. However, the first CAFOs are already beginning to appear in India.

Keeping Milk Fresh — With Frogs [ Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration - India's Most Effective Cold Plate Refrigerated Trucks ]

Before modern refrigeration, people dropped frogs in their milk to preserve it. 

Long before modern refrigeration, people in Russia and Finland reportedly placed living Russian brown frogs in milk to keep it fresh.

It turns out the curious practice has a basis in science: Recent research on the amphibians’ skin secretions led by Moscow State University organic chemist A.T. Lebedev shows they’re loaded with peptides, antimicrobial compounds as potent against Salmonella and Staphylococcus bacteria as prescription antibiotics.

To your health!

Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration - India's Most Effective Cold Plate Refrigerated Trucks

Source: Discover Magazine

Indian cow, may your yield increase [Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration-India's most effective cold plate reefers]

India has the world’s largest livestock population — 58 per cent of buffaloes and 15 per cent of cattle. Owing to this huge bovine stock, though India has managed to attain numero uno position in milk production, the full potential of Indian milch herd remains unattained.

Over the last three decades (1982 to 2012), average productivity of Indian cattle and buffaloes has grown from 1.9 to 3.9 kg per day, and from 3.7 to 6.2 kg per day, respectively.

The average daily milk yield for crossbred cattle is better at 7.1 kg per day, but still significantly lesser than the best of global standards — UK, US and Israel are at 25.6, 32.8 and 38.6 kg per day, respectively.

The major causes of low productivity in India are both intrinsic (low genetic potential) and extrinsic (poor nutrition/feed management, inferior farm management practices, ineffective veterinary and extension services and inefficient implementation of breed improvement programmes).

Breeding initiatives

Government initiatives such as the National Project on Cattle & Buffalo Breeding (NPCBB) have contributed significantly to strengthening artificial insemination (AI) services.

But lack of focus on progeny testing due to unavailability of technical manpower, small herd size and inefficient implementation has been an impediment.

AI services cover only 25 per cent of dairy animals. Further, over the years, emphasis has been on crossbreeding, with limited attention to improvement of indigenous breeds.

For developing sustainable breeding strategies it is also necessary to have comprehensive national level mapping and database development on number of species of livestock and their breeds, available animal genetic resources, breeding infrastructure and development facilities.

Cross-breeding with high yielding exotic breeds should be encouraged in areas with adequate facility for feed and fodder as well as suitable agro-climatic conditions. Genetic upgradation by way of breeding non-descript cattle with defined indigenous breeds needs to be encouraged in resource deficient areas.

Need based import of live animals and germ plasm (semen and embryos) needs to be debated and facilitated, amidst adoption of scientific bio security measures.

Feed management

With rapidly shrinking land and natural resources, availability and quality of feed and fodder is increasingly becoming a challenge. The current deficit of green fodder and concentrates is 34 per cent. Further, there is a supply demand gap for quality forage seeds as well.

Imbalanced nutrition due to lack of farmers’ knowledge about appropriate use of existing feed resources is also a major factor responsible for low livestock productivity.

The Ration Balancing Programme of NDDB and Accelerated Fodder Development Programme of the Government are commendable initiatives to ensure better feed availability and improved nutrition.

Application of newer technology to produce large scale feed blocks, feed enzymes and other innovative feed resources, needs to be enhanced. Development of an innovative silage business model by way of partnerships amongst seed companies, operations service providers (for baling and supply chain functions) and rural retail channels can be a significant step in this direction.

Veterinary services

High quality veterinary services are an important enabler for enhancing milk yield.

But currently due to unavailability of trained manpower and lack of mobility (veterinary service requirements are normally on short notice and require attendance in a limited time window at farm doorstep), the services provided are not able to create desired impact.

An authentic, concurrently updated database for prevalence and emergence of diseases is essential for identification, onward prevention and control.

A fairly large infrastructure of vaccine and diagnostic production units, semen stations and AI breeding farms that is largely owned by the government, can be more efficiently utilised by way of appropriate participation of the private sector.

Farm management practices

Adoption of better farm management practices and automation helps in reducing operational cost and improving milk quality as well as productivity.

Here, collaborative and innovative dairy farming models have a critical role to play.

There is a need for devising and implementing low cost technologies (for feeding, healthcare diagnostics, cow comfort and milking) that are suited to Indian dairy farming, thereby improving yields.

Effective delivery of extension services is critical to achieve higher milk productivity. Extension activities also need to address farmer education on preventive measures, improved animal feeding and farm management practices.

Currently, less than 1 per cent of the total plan budget for the animal husbandry sector is allocated for extension activities. Progressive farmers also need to be trained to act as extension agents for disseminating technical knowledge.

India’s success in attaining leadership and contributing 17 per cent to the global milk production has been achieved more on the strength of milch animal numbers and less on the back of yield improvements.

But in order to meet the impending supply demand gap, it has become imperative to focus on improving productivity.

A significantly spruced up breeding programme, efficient feed management interventions, broad-basing the scale and scope of veterinary services, adoption of superior farm management practices and an efficient extension network are the five pillars on which the dairy sector shall be efficiently poised to achieve the full potential of the Indian dairy herd.

Transfreez mobile refrigeration - India's most effective cold plate reefers

The writer is managing director & CEO, Yes Bank and president, Assocham

(This article was published on March 26, 2014

Respect women's contribution to dairy sector: Patel [Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration-India's most effective Cold Plate Reefers]

Asia's biggest dairy, Banas Dairy, bid farewell to former chairperson of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) Dr Amrita Patel at a special function 'Rin Swikar (acceptance of indebtedness)' programme held on Tuesday.

Thousands of women milk producers from the district turned emotional seeing their leader on the stage. Many called her symbol of "woman power" for showing the way to bring economic prosperity.

"Once selling milk was frowned upon and it was Parthibhai and Amritaben who had showed us the way to take up dairy farming," a woman milk producer Lakshmi Loh said.

Lauding her 15 years as chairperson of NDDB, Banas Dairy chairman Parthi Bhatol recalled the days when the dairy was just trying to get on its feet.

"But for her wholehearted co-operation, we farmers of a backward district of Banaskantha would never have been what we are today," he said.

Earlier, Patel was honored with shawl and a citation.

Addressing the women, Patel urged the dairy authorities not to ignore the contribution of women to the dairy's prosperity.



Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration-India's most effective Cold Plate Reefers
Source: Times Of India

Amul Dairy MD to head Lactalis India operations [Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration-India's Most Effective Cold Plate Reefers]

Rahul Kumar Srivastava, managing director of Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union Limited (KDCMPUL), also known as Amul Dairy, is set to head the Indian operations of the world’s largest dairy group, Le Groupe Lactalis, in Chennai.

KDCMPUL is also a member union of the Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which owns the Amul brand. Though the brand is owned and marketed by GCMMF, the Amul Dairy at Anand is run by KDCMPUL. According to sources, Srivastava will head the Indian operations of the French major, which recently entered the world’s largest dairy market, India. Earlier, in January this year, Lactalis had acquired south India-based private player Tirumala Milk Products for about Rs 1,750 crore. Srivastava, an engineer from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, and a student from the Institute of Rural Management, Anand, had joined GCMMF 22 years ago.

He was offered the post of managing director at the Amul Dairy at the age of 33 years, in 2003.

It is learnt that Srivastava was in the look-out for a suitable opportunity for the last one-and-a-half years. He did not wish to comment on the development, and a mail to Lactalis remained un-answered.

Ramsinh Parmar, KDCMPUL chairman, said, “Srivastava has intimated that he would like to switch his job.”

Founded in France 80 years ago, Groupe Lactalis employs more than 54,000 people and operating in 70 countries through 200 factories. Lactalis develops well-known international brands such as Président, Galbani and Parmalat. According to the group website, the group turnover in 2012 was 15.7 billion euros.

Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration-India's Most Effective Cold Plate Reefers

Source: business-standard

Newsletter Feb 2014 [Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration-Name stands for Refrigerated Trucks India]

[Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration-Name stands for Refrigerated Trucks India]

CFTRI proposes formation of company to manufacture & market Green Milk [Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration-Name stands for Refrigerated Trucks of India]

The Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore, submitted a proposal to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Tech (CSIR-Tech) that would enable research institutes to establish a company to manufacture and market its Green Milk, a product aimed at containing malnutrition in India.

Green Milk is prepared from Moringa (a soluble protein); Portulaca (leafy oils); chicory (CH20) inulin, mushroom Vitamin D2, and Chia/Ocimum (an emulsifier). The entire composition, including proteins, fats, sugars and Vitamins A and K, is from plant sources.  

The idea was to have an alternative to animal milk that is equivalent to human milk and a pure vegetarian beverage. The contents of milk are known for their characteristics and nutritional role. CSIR-CFTRI’s research team looked at  similar and better molecules in other plants and put them together to constitute the product.

Green Milk was unveiled to the public to taste during the seventh essay of the International Food Convention, which was held in Mysore in December 2013, and garnered a positive response from healthcare providers too.
The Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore, submitted a proposal to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Tech (CSIR-Tech) that would enable research institutes to establish a company to manufacture and market its Green Milk, a product aimed at containing malnutrition in India.

Green Milk is prepared from Moringa (a soluble protein); Portulaca (leafy oils); chicory (CH20) inulin, mushroom Vitamin D2, and Chia/Ocimum (an emulsifier). The entire composition, including proteins, fats, sugars and Vitamins A and K, is from plant sources.  

The idea was to have an alternative to animal milk that is equivalent to human milk and a pure vegetarian beverage. The contents of milk are known for their characteristics and nutritional role. CSIR-CFTRI’s research team looked at  similar and better molecules in other plants and put them together to constitute the product.

Green Milk was unveiled to the public to taste during the seventh essay of the International Food Convention, which was held in Mysore in December 2013, and garnered a positive response from healthcare providers too.

“The enquiries has been mind-boggling as considerable interest was evinced not just from food processing companies, including the ice cream industry, nutraceutical and health drink manufacturers, but from organisations associated with the prevention of cruelty to animals,” Prof Ram Rajasekharan, director, CSIR-CFTRI, Mysore, stated via telephone.

“This led us to ponder over a spin-off within the institute to establish an industry to scale up from lab to land. There is a provision in the government of India that a company could be set up by a research institute like ours. So we are exploring such an option through CSIR-Tech, and it will take a year for the required clearances,” he added.

The product, currently referred to as Green Milk (Version 1.4) because it took a year and four months to get the first beverage samples. It can be used as a nutritional beverage, as an alternative to milk. During the research, the milk has been used in preparation of hot beverages like coffee and tea too, though some fine-tuning is required in terms of taste.

Now that the research and development (R&D) is complete, the next obvious step is to scale-up the  process and reformulation to provide tailor-made milk for each age group. This is because Green Milk has the big advantage that the constituents could be put together to suit different needs.

It could either be protein-rich milk for infants or low-fat, low-calorie milk for the aged, and could also be a beverage sans allergenic properties, as it does not contain lactose. In terms of nutrition, green milk comes very close to mother’s milk.

“In terms of shelf-life, Green Milk could be stored as a powder and reconstituted whenever needed. We are working on the aspect of  long-duration storage to make it more useful,” said Prof Rajasekharan.
Source: FnBNews, Wednesday, January 29
“The enquiries has been mind-boggling as considerable interest was evinced not just from food processing companies, including the ice cream industry, nutraceutical and health drink manufacturers, but from organisations associated with the prevention of cruelty to animals,” Prof Ram Rajasekharan, director, CSIR-CFTRI, Mysore, stated via telephone.

“This led us to ponder over a spin-off within the institute to establish an industry to scale up from lab to land. There is a provision in the government of India that a company could be set up by a research institute like ours. So we are exploring such an option through CSIR-Tech, and it will take a year for the required clearances,” he added.

The product, currently referred to as Green Milk (Version 1.4) because it took a year and four months to get the first beverage samples. It can be used as a nutritional beverage, as an alternative to milk. During the research, the milk has been used in preparation of hot beverages like coffee and tea too, though some fine-tuning is required in terms of taste.

Now that the research and development (R&D) is complete, the next obvious step is to scale-up the  process and reformulation to provide tailor-made milk for each age group. This is because Green Milk has the big advantage that the constituents could be put together to suit different needs.

It could either be protein-rich milk for infants or low-fat, low-calorie milk for the aged, and could also be a beverage sans allergenic properties, as it does not contain lactose. In terms of nutrition, green milk comes very close to mother’s milk.

“In terms of shelf-life, Green Milk could be stored as a powder and reconstituted whenever needed. We are working on the aspect of  long-duration storage to make it more useful,” said Prof Rajasekharan.

-Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration - Name stands for Refrigerated Trucks of India

-Source: FnBNews, Wednesday, January 29

A review of the dynamic Indian milk market [Transfreez-Name stands for Refrigerated Trucks of India]

India is the largest producer of milk in the world, with 128 million tonnes of milk produced in 2012-13, a growth of almost 5% over 2011-12. Zenith International senior analyst Esther Renfrew reviews this dynamic market.

   Most of the milk produced in India is consumed at source by the country's largely vegetarian population. The demand for milk and dairy products is growing at a higher rate than the rate of production growth. The government of India estimates that the demand for milk will be about 180 million tonnes by 2022.

This increasing demand is mainly coming from India's emerging middle class, which is causing frequent price rises, and has led to an increasing interest in dairy production as a commercial activity.

India's dairy sector is made up of millions of farmers, the vast majority of whom milk fewer than five animals. From the enquiries that Zenith International receives from entrepreneurs in India, it's evident that regardless of the number of animals owned, these farmers are looking at producing milk commercially and are looking for land and investment options to set up modern production facilities.

When coupled with economic growth and a growing population, this is set to change the face of the Indian dairy industry in the coming decades.

Capital-intensive investments

During Zenith's market assessment undertaken in India, Zenith met with major public and private sector dairies. Amul Dairy is the undisputed leader in the industry, and it was observed that if Amul introduces a new product or an innovation to the market, it's very likely that other dairies will follow suit.

Mother Dairy is following closely and even competing with Amul for regional market share within the country. These two top dairies under the National Dairy Development Board realise the need to bring about change in the way milk is handled in India, and both have access to funds to make capital-intensive investments that are deemed prudent.

Private sector dairies are growing by leaps and bounds mainly because their primary focus is on non-fluid dairy products (butter, cheese etc.) which are sold in-country as well as exported to many other countries. The majority of capacity expansion that happened recently was for the private sector dairies substantiating the importance of private sector dairies. Hatsun, Kwality, Paras, Parag, Heritage, CavinKare etc are the leading private sector dairies.

Fluid dairy products account for 46% of dairy consumption in India. When it comes to non-fluid dairy products, clarified butter, better known as ghee, accounts for 27% of consumption, followed by butter and yogurt at 7% each. Condensed milk, powdered milk and cottage cheese (better known as paneer) are the next popular categories at 6.5%, 3.5% and 2% respectively.

The retail sector is booming, with the national government lifting the ban on foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail in September 2012. Foreign retailers will have to source almost a third of their manufactured and processed goods from industries with a total plant and machinery investment of less than US $1m.

Foreign retailers will have to invest a minimum of US $100m, and put at least half of their total investment into so-called 'back-end' infrastructure such as warehousing and cold storage facilities. This requirement has to be met within three years of a retailer setting up shop. The aim is to meet one of the key justifications for opening the supermarket sector to foreign players, revamping the country's crumbling infrastructure and unclogging bottlenecks.

A weakening rupee

In August 2013, the government raised the cap on foreign direct investment in several sectors from 49% to between 74-100% – yet another measure to attract capital inflows to support a weakening rupee.

At the moment, the sales of fresh dairy products through modern retail is negligible mainly because of the severely underdeveloped cold-chain. The reform is expected to bring about drastic changes to the way milk and other fresh dairy products are distributed in India.
Read more....

When it comes to consumers, the high income elasticity, coupled with the growing affluence of India's population, suggests that there is a strong likelihood that the milk and milk products consumption will grow at a healthy rate (in the range of 8-10% annually).

Demand for processed and packaged dairy produce in urban centres is going to see a phenomenal growth due to the growing population with a higher disposable income and greater health consciousness.

As the consumer expenditure on milk and milk products is increasing, the consumption preference for other byproducts such as butter, ghee, paneer etc, is also on the increase. Consumers are also aware of food safety issues related with the current ecosystem of dairy distribution and fresh dairy products such as milk and curd (packed in pouches) in particular. Hence, consumers are increasingly interested in safer options.

Overall, innovation and new product development will remain of the essence, and companies that invest in such innovations will see higher growth than competitors. At the same time, producers will have to be mindful of consumers' sentiments attached to milk, and their high sensitivity to price.

-FoodBev.com, Shaun Weston 22 Jan 2014

[Transfreez-Name stands for Refrigerated Trucks of India]

Cooperative milk industry believes National Dairy Development Board chairman Amrita Patel destroyed much of the founder's vision [Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration-Name stands for Refrigerated Trucks of India]

India’s cooperative milk sector is in disarray as the NDDB chief retires after 16 yrs

• 

The term of chairman of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and a clutch of its subsidiaries, may not get renewed. She’s 70 years old now, and a further extension would be against retirement rules. A new chairman takes over from March 1, 2014.

The cooperative milk industry believes Patel destroyed much of the vision promoted by Dr Verghese Kurien, founder of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which runs the Amul brand and, which, in turn, continues to promote the cooperative sector.

So impressed was then prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri with Kurien’s vision that he decided the same approach should guide the national dairy development policy. It was at his instance, in 1965, that the NDDB was set up. The basic objective of the board was to replicate the Amul model. Dr Kurien was chosen to head the institution as the chairman.

Amrita Patel succeeded him in 1998. During her tenure, she converted divisions of NDDB into wholly owned subsidiaries, thus spinning them away from direct parliamentary supervision. It also enabled key directors of NDDB to get perquisites from a host of corporate entities.

NDDB, the sole shareholder of these companies, has refused to provide dna with the figures. All we know is that NDDB pays Amrita Patel a remuneration of Rs18.3 lakh annually (in addition to perquisites of which we have no details). Dr Kurien stayed on as chairman of GCMMF till 2006. It’s, therefore, interesting to see if Patel could match the pace of Kurien in promoting the cooperative sector. 

According to ministry of agriculture data, it can be seen that except for Gujarat and Karnataka, where Dr Kurien had already made the cooperative movement strong and vibrant, growth in milk production by milk cooperatives was only 9.3% during 2005-2009 (the period for which data is readily available). This means that growth in milk production by cooperatives outside these two states was less than the national average of 44%. It is these two states that allowed the cooperative sector to register an average growth in milk production of 20.6%. The biggest contributor to the growth in milk production for the rest of India was not cooperatives, but the private sector.

While NDDB may like to claim liberalisation allowed private sector to grow faster, a major contributor to the weakening of the cooperative movement was the manner in which NDDB, under Patel, allowed Mother Dairy to purchase milk from the private sector, and not the cooperative sector. But more on Mother Dairy later. NDDB had failed to fulfil the mandate it had received from Parliament. That’s one reason why the cooperative sector will be glad to see Patel go.

The second reason is the manner in which Patel dispensed with Kurien’s commitment to transparency. Patel tried to hide all details – especially financial details – from the public, including the media. This is surprising from a company formed of public funds. Echoing this practice, balance sheets of none of the subsidiaries are available for public scrutiny. This is particularly true of Mother Dairy, which was chastised by the Central Information Commission for not disclosing information in spite of being a recipient of public funds. It was only after DNA badgered NDDB for four years, and also did a series of articles about NDDB, that it finally decided to put up three of its annual reports on its website. However, none of the other annual reports are available, not even those of the 40 odd years which Kurien dutifully put up for public consumption. That is a glaring testimony to the respect that Patel has for transparency and openness.

But the industry may not be very happy with the reported move of having T Nanda Kumar as Patel’s successor.  First, Kumar is a retired IAS officer. The NDDB chairman’s post is an executive post drawing a decent remuneration. Second, Kumar has little knowledge of the milk industry. As cooperative sources point out, the reason why Kurien chose to headquarter NDDB in Anand, Gujarat, was to ensure that it had enough people with a sound knowledge of milk-related issues and cooperatives. After all, NDDB is a developmental organisation. Third, the NDDB Act itself requires the chairman to be “professionally qualified in...dairying, animal husbandry, rural economics, rural development, business administration or banking”.

Kumar’s last posting was as a member of the National Disaster Management Authority. It is strange that his appointment was cleared by none else but the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister.

- DnaIndia, Sunday, February 9, 2014

[Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration-Name stands for Refrigerated Trucks of India]

CFTRI proposes formation of company to manufacture & market Green Milk

The Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore, submitted a proposal to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Tech (CSIR-Tech) that would enable research institutes to establish a company to manufacture and market its Green Milk, a product aimed at containing malnutrition in India.

Green Milk is prepared from Moringa (a soluble protein); Portulaca (leafy oils); chicory (CH20) inulin, mushroom Vitamin D2, and Chia/Ocimum (an emulsifier). The entire composition, including proteins, fats, sugars and Vitamins A and K, is from plant sources.   

The idea was to have an alternative to animal milk that is equivalent to human milk and a pure vegetarian beverage. The contents of milk are known for their characteristics and nutritional role. CSIR-CFTRI’s research team looked at  similar and better molecules in other plants and put them together to constitute the product.

Green Milk was unveiled to the public to taste during the seventh essay of the International Food Convention, which was held in Mysore in December 2013, and garnered a positive response from healthcare providers too. 

“The enquiries has been mind-boggling as considerable interest was evinced not just from food processing companies, including the ice cream industry, nutraceutical and health drink manufacturers, but from organisations associated with the prevention of cruelty to animals,” Prof Ram Rajasekharan, director, CSIR-CFTRI, Mysore, stated via telephone. 

“This led us to ponder over a spin-off within the institute to establish an industry to scale up from lab to land. There is a provision in the government of India that a company could be set up by a research institute like ours. So we are exploring such an option through CSIR-Tech, and it will take a year for the required clearances,” he added.

The product, currently referred to as Green Milk (Version 1.4) because it took a year and four months to get the first beverage samples. It can be used as a nutritional beverage, as an alternative to milk. During the research, the milk has been used in preparation of hot beverages like coffee and tea too, though some fine-tuning is required in terms of taste.

Now that the research and development (R&D) is complete, the next obvious step is to scale-up the  process and reformulation to provide tailor-made milk for each age group. This is because Green Milk has the big advantage that the constituents could be put together to suit different needs.  

It could either be protein-rich milk for infants or low-fat, low-calorie milk for the aged, and could also be a beverage sans allergenic properties, as it does not contain lactose. In terms of nutrition, green milk comes very close to mother’s milk.

“In terms of shelf-life, Green Milk could be stored as a powder and reconstituted whenever needed. We are working on the aspect of  long-duration storage to make it more useful,” said Prof Rajasekharan.

-[Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration-Name that stands for Refrigerated Truck]

Wednesday, January 29, 2014 IST  Nandita Vijay, Bengaluru

Milk Supply May Not Meet Growing Indian Demand

Very few growing up in the 1980s and 1990s might have ever imagined a looming milk shortage in India. This was mainly as a result of the success of the four decade old “Operation Flood” dairy development programme started by India’s National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in 1970. The success achieved by this programme enabled India to become the world’s largest producer of milk and milk products. A significant gap between milk demand and supply now seems to be a very real possibility, according to a new report released by IMARC Group.

Despite being the world’s largest producer, the dairy sector in India is by and large in the primitive stage of development and modernization. Though India may boast of a 200 million cattle population, the average output of an Indian cow is only one seventh of its American counterpart. Indian breeds of cows are considered inferior in terms of productivity. Moreover, the sector is plagued with various other impediments like shortage of fodder, its poor quality, dismal transportation facilities and a poorly developed cold chain infrastructure. As a result, the supply side lacks in elasticity that is expected of it.

According to an analyst at IMARC Group “Milk processing and dairy farming is not integrated in India. Milk production is mostly done by the local farmers and processing done by the cooperatives and private milk processing firms. Dairy farming and crop farming are complementary to each other with a significant part of the fodder for the cattle coming from the crops and a significant part of the manure for the crops coming from the cattle. As a result, agriculturists enjoy a significant advantage in dairy farming compared to non agriculturists. The procurement prices of milk (which in turn are driven by the retail prices), however, do not make dairy farming a very profitable business for farmers in the country”.

On the demand side, however, the report finds that the situation is buoyant. Rising incomes have led to a transition from cereals to milk, meat and vegetables. As a result, consumption of milk in India is expected to grow at around 5-6% in the next ten years, whereas, production in the same period is expected to grow at 3-4%. Estimates from the report suggest that by 2018, India will not be able to meet its domestic milk demand and will have to import milk from other countries.

IMARC’s new report titled “Dairy Industry in India: 2013-2019” provides an analytical and statistical insight into the Indian dairy industry along with its various segments and sub-segments. The study that has been undertaken using both desk-based and qualitative primary research has analyzed various aspects and provides a comprehensive understanding of the Indian dairy products market. The report can serve as an excellent guide for investors, researchers, consultants, marketing strategists, and all those who are planning to foray into the Indian dairy market in any form.

Noida, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/13/2014 --

France’s Lactalis acquires Hyderabad’s Tirumala Milk

French dairy group Groupe Lactalis SA has acquired a 100 percent stake in India's Tirumala Milk Products Pvt Ltd, in which private equity firm Carlyle Group held a 20 percent stake, the companies said on Wednesday.

According to a person close to the development said the deal is expected to close once necessary approvals are in place. The deal is reportedly valued at $ 275 million ( Rs 1,750 crore).

Danda Brahmanandam, Tirumala's founder and managing director who along with his three partners owns 76 percent stake in the company was not available for comment. Carlye owns rest of the stake percent. An email sent to Lactalis was not answered till filing this report. Calls made to Lactalis spokesperson Michel NALET were not answered. Carlyle, the world’s second-biggest buyout firm, invested $22 million in the Indian company in 2010. Tirumala Milk has achieved a turnover of Rs 1424 crore during the last financial year. Tirumala Milk Products, established in 1998, manufactures a wide range of dairy products including milk in sachets, sweets, flavored milk, curd, Milk Powder, Butter, Ghee, Butter oil, and Ice cream. According to a report in the Economic Times, Tirumala Milk is the second largest milk supplier in south India. Its processing units across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have a cumulative capacity of 1.2 million litres a day. Barclays was financial adviser to Tirumala, while Rothschild was financial adviser to Lactalis. The deal is likely to help Lactalis reduce its reliance on Europe, where it gets 60 percent of its revenue. India  is the world's third-largest producer of liquid cow’s milk, behind the European Union and US. A report by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India sees the dairy industry in India reaching Rs 5 lakh crore in turnover by 2015

by FP Staff Jan 8, 2014

“We are for 60% subsidy for cluster: Commerce minister”

FTA (Free Trade Agreement) and FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in retail are among the key issues that are being discussed today. Union minister of state for trade and commerce Dr E M Sudarshana Natchiappantouches these issues and more in an exclusive conversation with Ashwani Maindola. Excerpts: 

The food trade has become one of the major components of Indian global trade and commerce in recent times. In fact, the Indian share of food trade has increased to 2.2 per cent of the global food trade in last three years. According to APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority), the Indian food processing industry is primarily export-oriented and India's exports of processed food stood at Rs 41,309.04 crore in 2012-13. 

Also with India’s dominance at the WTO (World Trade Organisation) Ministerial Meeting proceedings in Bali, the focus has shifted to the Indian ministry of trade and commerce (The interview was conducted before the conclusion of the meeting).

How the government is facilitating the Indian processing sector?
For the first time MSP (Minimum Support Price) for coarse grain is given by our government. Regarding the other fruits and horticulture production, the ministry of agriculture is funding every aspect of developing, improving, and enhancing the technology leading to export after satisfying the domestic need. And the incentives are in terms of manning and materials in addition to technology, knowledge transfer. There is 100 per cent FDI in processing industry and we are encouraging by 60% subsidy for creating cluster in food processing for purpose of export. The modified scheme of industrial development allows the participation of the manufacturers with 15 per cent investment supported by 25 per cent by state government and rest by Government of India. And at many of the places the clusters are already established. It ranges from Rs 10 crore to Rs 100 crore by subsidy part for developing agriculture produce, spices, coconut, coir, tea, coffee, and such other food related processing units. The policies and the Five Year Plans were made on this basis to improve the GDP through development of the agriculture and allied sectors.

There is an apprehension that Indian farm subsidy could be trimmed with new round of negotiations at Bali Ministerial Meet. What is the ministry’s position in this regard?
GoI has a consistent stand, including all parties in opposition that at any cost India will not compromise on or negotiate against the interest of Indian farmers. 

Cabinet minister Anand Sharma has made it very clear on record that we are not going to compromise on our interests but will protect the interest of the country. There is no question of any other country dominating on India. 

In a recent newspaper report about meeting between FAO and Indian authorities, the former has charged that Indian Food Security Bill could prove detrimental for global food trade and result in price distortion and lead to inflation. What is your ministry’s take on the issue?
It’s a wrong impression. Any manufacturer does business on two conditions, one is there should be a definite market and two, definite minimum price for that product. Already India has allowed 100% FDI route for agriculture. The whole world is open for doing agriculture business in India. There is no barrier for anything. The Indian agriculturist has now well graduated to meet the situation, as highly skilled human resources, and capability of absorbing new technology concerning the best practices in agriculture management are strength of Indian agriculture. So India can meet its demand under the Food Security Act and outside world.

What has been the progress so far in Foreign Direct Investment-FDI? What is the way forward for the FDI retail sector given the opposition it is facing in the country?
 As I told the apprehension of FAO is no more relevant and more international players are interested in investment in India knowing well that domestic and external demand can be met by their investment. The policy of FDI in retail is basically for state to implement. Already 13 state governments have come forward and started negotiating with companies.  

The opposition to FDI is by people who are against development of agriculture and small farmers. It would give a fillip to small agriculture players, as they would get assured market price. Because the present institutional financial support is imposing more interest on agriculture but FDI would help in lowering of interest rate and naturally agriculture becomes more profitable. 

What is the progress so far in Free Trade Agreement with EU? How the government is going to safeguard the interest of Indian traders particularly the dairy sector, which has expressed apprehensions regarding adverse impact on the domestic dairy industry?
We want to have it on textile, agricultural produce and other areas. But Europeans do not fully understand the best structure of IP regime available in India. If they are convinced on that aspect, the farmer lobby would also cooperate with EU to come for an agreement of win-win situation for both sides. 

For all other concerns, we will be careful in dealing with such issues. The priority will be protecting the national interest. In no way we’ll compromise on that issue but at the same time we have to find out new horizons for Indian dairy industry in domestic and international fields. The world is open, the Indian dairy industry is open for 158 countries therefore we need not worry for some countries which are in the EU. We’ve confidence that dairy industry would graduate to meet the challenges. 

FnBNews.com, Monday, December 30, 2013

New year wishes from India's Leading Refrigerated Truck Manufacturers

Dairy sector set to touch $140 billion by 2020

MUMBAI: The size of Indian dairy industry in both organised and unorganised sectors is expected to double to $ 140 billion by 2020, on the back of growing demand and rising disposable income.

"The Indian dairy industry, currently pegged at $ 70 billion (organised and unorganised), is expected to double by 2020," a report by Investor Relations Society (IRS) said. The society is a global network of investor relations professionals.

"On the back of a rise in disposable income and strong demand for dairy products, the Indian dairy industry is all set to experience high growth rates in the next 5-6 years." the report said.

While the dairy industry is growing at a compounded annual growth rate ( CAGR) of 15-17 per cent, the value-added products alone are growing way beyond 24 per cent, it said.

Milk is the country's biggest agricultural produce, contributing 22 per cent to agricultural GDP. India overtook the US in 1998 to become the world's leading milk producer, accounting for over 15 per cent of the global output, it said.

The industry, which had been a national heritage, is now re-emerging and catching the eye of investors due to its growth potential, it added.

Growth in financials of existing domestic players, diversification into dairy sector by other companies, surge in private equity deals, entry of foreign firms in the segment are some of the broad indications that India's organised dairy industry will remain on growth path at least till 2020, the report said.

"The operating margins in value-added products are almost 2x liquid milk business, thanks to changing consumption pattern due to rapid urbanisation," IRS Chief Executive Officer Kailash Nichani said.

The milk production alone is expected to cross 200 million tonnes by 2016 from the current 125 million tonnes.

The government, too, appears to have realised the potential in this industry and has come up with some proactive measures to guide investors interested in setting up food processing units in different parts of India, the report said.

The dairy sector has been liberalised in a phased manner since 1991. Many private players entered the market to set up processing facilities in areas with surplus milk.