Mother Dairy expects 30% demand surge this summer for milk products: MD Manish Bandlish

Mother Dairy will launch this summer 30 new products, mainly in ice cream and yoghurt categories, as it expects a 25-30 per cent increase in consumer demand, a top company official said.

Mother Dairy, a leading milk supplier in Delhi-NCR, has nine company-owned dairy processing plants with a total capacity of more than 50 lakh litres per day.

In an interview with PTI, Mother Dairy Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd MD Manish Bandlish said, "Summer is the most anticipated season for our business, especially for categories like ice creams, curd and beverages".

"With the Indian Meteorological Department's (IMD) prediction of above-normal temperatures and a hot summer this year, we are expecting a multifold surge in demand for these categories," he added. Already, Bandlish said there is an uptick in sales of ice creams compared to the previous year.

The company, he said, is fully prepared to match this growing demand and has invested up to Rs 50 crore to augment capacities to ensure adequate availability of its products.

"As we get into the season, we are all geared up to excite consumers in our golden jubilee year with an array of over 30 new delightful products. The upcoming range will feature around 20 new ice cream products, followed by Greek yoghurts and other dairy products," Bandlish said.

Overall, he said the company is very optimistic about the season. "We expect the demand towards our dairy products to strengthen by 25-30 per cent over the last season's demand," Bandlish said.

Mother Dairy has also announced its expansion plan for dairy and fruits and vegetables (F&V) businesses. The company will invest Rs 650 crore to set up two new plants for processing milk and fruits and vegetables. It will also invest another Rs 100 crore to expand the capacities of its existing plants, taking the total capex to Rs 750 crore.

"In our endeavour to expand our distribution and reach to our consumers, we have earmarked a capital expenditure (capex) outlay of over Rs 750 crore to enhance our dairy and F&V processing capacities across key locations," Bandlish said.

Mother Dairy is coming up with a big dairy plant in Nagpur with an investment of around Rs 525 crore. The greenfield plant will have a processing capacity of 6 lakh litres of milk per day.

"We also plan to commission a new fruit processing plant in Karnataka with an investment of over Rs 125 crore under our Safal brand," Bandlish said. These two plants are likely to be completed in about two years.

For the horticulture (fruits and vegetables) segment, the company has its own four plants, while for edible oils it manufactures through 15 associated plants. Mother Dairy's turnover in 2022-23 stood at around Rs 14,500 crore.

On the expected turnover for this fiscal, Bandlish said, "Despite a challenging year and subdued summer season last year, deflation in the edible oil sector, the company is likely to exit 2023-24 with a moderate growth rate of around 7-8 per cent in volume terms". Mother Dairy was commissioned in 1974. It is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).

Mother Dairy was established under the initiative of 'Operation Flood', the world's biggest dairy development programme, launched to make India a milk-sufficient nation.

Mother Dairy, one of the leading dairy players in India, manufactures, markets and sells milk and milk products, including cultured products, ice creams, paneer, ghee, etc under the 'Mother Dairy' brand.

The company also has a diversified portfolio with products in edible oils under the 'Dhara brand and fresh fruits & vegetables, frozen vegetables & snacks, unpolished pulses, pulps & concentrates, etc. Under the 'Safal brand.

It has hundreds of milk booths and Safal retail outlets in Delhi-NCR. Mother Dairy sells more than 35 lakh litres of fresh milk (pouched and token milk) per day in Delhi-NCR.