To prevent high nutritional deficiency disorder, NDDB asks dairy sectors to start fortification of food

Mother Dairy Fruit and Vegetable Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), has confirmed to build a milk processing plant and a central distribution facility in Odisha.

While it will invest Rs 150 crore for the five lakh litre per day milk plant, Rs 25 crore will be spent for the central distribution facility, said NDDB Chairman Dilip Rath.

The NDDB is looking for 15 acres of land on lease in the vicinity of Bhubaneswar to set up the two projects, he added.

“The NDDB has approached Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for the land allotment for Safal to set up a central distribution facility and for collecting and marketing the farm produce in the most scientific and hygienic method to get the best price for farmers,” said Rath.

Safal, the horticulture brand of Mother Dairy under the aegis of the NDDB, will double its farmer outreach to 2,000 farmers for procuring fruits and vegetables in seven districts to ensure a fair value for their produce and give them a taste of organised marketing across the country.

He also said that they have planned to open 10 more Safal stores in Bhubaneswar and six in Sambalpur. It already has 16 stores in the two cities.

Saugata Mitra, Director, Mother Dairy Fruit and Vegetable Pvt. Ltd, said, “Our aim is to strengthen our farmer connect to enhance fruit and vegetable procurement from Odisha. Our interventions at the farm level have already started showing results and we now plan to enhance our farmer strength in the larger interest of the farming community. We are aggressively pursuing to add 1000 more farmers to our network by the end of this fiscal, which will help us to strengthen on the procurement from the state.”

“Safal also plans to double the procurement of mangoes from the state of Odisha this season to 150 tonnes. Last year it was 75 tonnes,” Mitra added.

Strong development projections given by the Parag Milk management during the experts meet sparked a rally in the shares of dairy product manufacturers on Monday. Analysts are optimistic on the sector, with expectations of a normal monsoon and fall in milk procurement prices.

Shares of Parag Milk Food gained 9 per cent to Rs 337 while Umang Dairies and Prabhat Dairy gained 5 per cent each to close at Rs 90.75 and Rs 179, respectively. Tasty Dairy Specialities gained 14 per cent to Rs 49.

The Parag management revealed its Vision 2020 wherein it plans to achieve revenue of Rs 2,700-3,000 crore by FY 2020, implying a CAGR of 18-24 per cent over the period FY 2018-20.

“India’s organised dairy sector is up for accelerated growth with present share at just around 20 per cent of total dairy sector, given higher disposable incomes and low penetration of value added products (VAP),” said Mehul Mehta, senior analyst, Sharekhan.

With the Parag management significantly increasing guidance for revenue growth and operating profit margin, analysts increased their earnings estimates and expect the company’s bottom-line to register 40 per cent CAGR over FY 2018-20, led by higher contribution to revenue from value-added products.

“Rising innovation agenda, scaling up presence in health & nutrition segment, and increasing the distribution network along with a professional management team would provide greater visibility to Parag’s earnings trajectory going forward,” said Harit Kapoor, analyst, IDFC Securities.

“Further, improved profitability and minimal capex requirement will drive positive free cash flow and uptick in overall return profile, thereby driving re-rating in the stock” he added.

The stock of Parag Milk Foods has been range bound for the past few months. It is back on investors’ radar considering the company’s increasing share of value-added products, lower milk procurement cost and cheaper stock valuation.

Milk procurement prices have corrected by 8-10 per cent in March quarter from their peak in June 2017 quarter. Milk prices are expected to stabilise at lower levels for next few months considering lower fodder prices as well as decline in global SMP prices.

Analysts say they expect lower input prices to aid margin expansion of dairy firms. The trend may persist given the prognosis of a normal rainfall in the current year as well.

“With monsoons expected to be normal and the government push likely in the next few months, the firms in the dairy products and other agri related firms would get a lot more business opportunities than in the previous few years,” industry body ASSOCHAM said recently.

Dairy products maker Hatsun Agro Products Ltd, has inaugurated the company's 1,000th Hatsun Daily outlet and has planned to treble the number of its outlets during the next 12 months, to meet the rising demand of its products, a company official said.

The 1,000th outlet, which sells entire range of products by the company, was formally inaugurated by the senior company officials in this city, a company statement said.

"Retail expansion is a key step in meeting the increasing demand for our products and to reach out to new consumers in smaller cities as well.

While we are expanding to new geographies, our Research and Development is completely focused on new product innovations," Hatsun Agro Products Ltd, Marketing and Sales, J Prasanna Venkatesh said.

"Hatsun Daily would continue to grow and become a strong chain of 3,000 outlets in the next 12 months as part of the pan-India expansion programme aiming to reach out to more customers in tier II and III cities," he added.

The company that set up its first outlet in 2014 sells popular milk brand Arokya, curd, paneer, ghee, butter, skimmed milk and dairy whitener.

Recently, it had forayed into frozen food business under the brand 'Oyalo.'

Prabhat dairy Ltd, an integrated milk and dairy products company in India, has launched low fat, healthy ‘Mishti Doi’ in Mumbai.

Prabhat’s “Mishti Doi” is made from toned Milk with no added flavours - a healthy substitute for ice creams and sweets.

It will have natural caramel flavour, giving you the traditional taste.

Launched in Mumbai, it is available in packs of 85 gm (Rs 20) in Pantry Cars of Long Distance Trains & Corporate Canteens.

It will be manufactured in Prabhat’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at Turbhe, Navi Mumbai.

Last month the dairy brand has also launched no preservative dahi catering to the health conscious people.

Mumbai based Prabhat Dairy Ltd has recently launched Dahi with no preservatives.

Positioned as “Ghar Jaisa Dahi” it is made from fresh cow’s milk and produced in an ultra modern state–of–the-art-plant, under strict hygienic conditions.

The manufacturing process employs the latest technology to ensure a product untouched by human hand. This ensures that the Dahi contains all the natural goodness of cow’s milk which has nutritive value.

The company has adopted a unique model being used for first time in India called ‘Raftar’ which directly delivers fresh Dahi in chilled vans to 10,000 local grocery shops.

Other new ways of delivery are also being worked like use of Mopeds with chilling box at the back.

Launched in Mumbai, it is available in packs of 85g (Rs 10), 200g (Rs 25) and 400g (Rs 45) across the modern retail chains

Dairy firm Kwality has roped in Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar as brand ambassador for its entire range of products for a period of two years.

Akshay Kumar is today the fittest Bollywood actor and therefore fits perfectly as the brand ambassador of the company, Kwality said in a filing to the BSE today, reported PTI.

The company is on a high growth trajectory and undergoing a major strategic transformation. We have robust plans for the consumer market and this association will help us draw a lot of strength from his reputation and will bring a direct connect with our target audience," Kwality Managing Director Sanjay Dhingra said.

Kwality has six milk processing units in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.