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.