Karnataka's milk cooperative Nandini comes to Chennai

CHENNAI: Karnataka milk cooperative's Nandini brand is entering the Chennai market, joining 32 private players who currently retail packed milk here. Karnataka Cooperative Milk Producers Federation (KMF) will retail pasteurised cow's milk in Chennai from Friday.
This is the first time a cooperative organisation similar to Aavin from another state will sell its products in Tamil Nadu.
Nandini will sell special toned milk — which has 0.5% more fat than regular toned milk-specially for the Chennai market, Palaniappan, Chennai Representative for KMF, which markets its products under the Nandini brand name.
The company will start with retailing special toned milk, priced at 36 a litre, and will then sell other kinds of milk, said Anil Oomen, Chennai representative for KMF. Aavin retails its products at Rs 32 a litre.
Over the last few months, Aavin has been facing a shortage of milk as there have been issues with procurement from farmers. With private players willing to pay more for milk procurement, dairy farmers prefer selling milk to private companies than to Aavin. Meanwhile, demand for Aavin milk has also been on the rise as it is about Rs 11 (per litre) cheaper than those sold by private brands like Heritage or Hatsun, and more consumers are flocking to Aavin shops to buy milk and milk products, leaving Aavin short of milk.
Chennai requires about 25 lakh litres of milk a day, of which Aavin sells nearly 11.5 lakh litres and the rest comes from private players. The Karnataka Milk Federation will supply up to 5 lakh litres a day.