Jayen Mehta, who took over earlier this year as the managing director of Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), the owner of brand Amul, sees the next billion dollars (Rs 8,200 crore) for the company coming in from a range of good-for-you products.
Mehta, a GCMMF veteran having spent 32 years at the milk co-operative after passing out from the Institute of Rural Management in Anand, Gujarat, in 1991, knows that strong “consumer tailwinds” could propel growth for the co-operative in the future.
The group turnover of the 18 member unions of GCMMF crossed Rs 72,000 crore for the year 2022-23 (FY23), Mehta said.
GCMMF alone closed FY23 with a turnover of Rs 55,000 crore, a growth of 18.5% over the previous year. It is eyeing a 20% growth in topline this year (FY24) to Rs 66,000 crore, which by FY25, should be closer to Rs 80,000 crore, Mehta said, a target that the company hopes to achieve over the next two years.
By FY25, the co-operative is eyeing a group turnover of Rs 1 trillion, Mehta said. All of this will be led by its entry into protein and probiotic products as well as an expansion of its mithai portfolio, apart from a continued push of existing categories, including fresh products, ice cream and consumer products, thanks to the growing demand for packaging dairy and FMCG products.
In FY23, GCMMF reported a 21% growth in fresh products over the previous year. This segment contributes 50% to its turnover. The ice-cream range grew at 41% over the previous year, while consumer products grew at a rate of 23% over last year.
“There are strong trends that I see in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market, including the shift from unbranded to branded products and loose to packaged food products. At the same time, the emphasis on health remains high and the launch of protein-based products, including protein-based buttermilk, lassi, yoghurt, cheese, ice cream, water, and so on, will be aimed at filling the nutritional gap of consumers. At least a billion dollars should come from these new segments over the next few years,” Mehta said.
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The first tentative steps were taken recently by GCMMF, with the launch of protein buttermilk and lassi in select markets, said Mehta, which will be expanded across the country. The co-operative is also working on a range of probiotic products, starting with buttermilk, to support its good-for-you portfolio.
Simultaneously, its fresh mithai portfolio is getting a facelift in a bid to tap into the growing in-house consumption market. The co-operative will also add to its range of Indian sweets, Mehta said, to keep the momentum going, apart from adding new capacity to make Indian sweets.
GCMMF currently has 98 milk processing plants across the country with an installed capacity of 47 million litre per day. It collects milk (from 3.6 million farmers) on an average of 27 million litre per day. Mehta said the company plans to expand the capacity by 3-4 million litre per day in the next two years as existing categories as well as new initiatives gather pace.