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Vinod Mathew

AHMEDABAD, Aug. 20

IT may well prove to be the mother of all face-offs in the Indian dairy sector till date on the premise that there is room for yet another pan-Indian dairy brand in the domestic market.

The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), which till not too long back was dependent on the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF) to take a number of its products to the Indian consumer, now feels it may be time to get a move on and forge marketing ties with various state dairy co-operative federations.

The NDDB, which spun off the Mother Dairy Fruits and Vegetables Ltd (MDFVL) as a business entity with effect from April 2000, is now going in for a further restructuring of its business portfolio.

With an eye on duplicating the GCMMF success story in other parts of the country, MDFVL is poised to get further carved up into Mother Dairy Foods Ltd (MDFL) and Mother Dairy Processing Ltd (MDPL). MDFL, essentially a marketing company, has been assigned the role of a catalyst to rejuvenate the State co-operative federations across the country. It is understood that the State co-operative federations of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have agreed to join NDDB in its new marketing venture, the lure being the infusion of much needed funds into the State federations by NDDB.

As per the blue print, MDFL will set up JVs with the various State co-op federations wherein the former would have 51 per cent stake and the latter 49 per cent. While in the case of Kerala, its Milk Marketing Federation has agreed to sell its product line of `Milma' under the brand name `Mother Dairy - Milma', each of the other States would go in for a similar co-branding exercise. The roll-out of some of the JVs are scheduled to take place by September last.

The Amul icecream, with a 24.75 per cent share in the Rs 525 crore Indian market, which was hitherto falling back on the Mother Dairy share of 8.66 per cent to stake the claim to pole position ahead of 28.22 per cent HLL's Kwality Walls, has now set its eyes on enlarging its individual base. Thus, Delhi and the National Capital Region, which was hitherto deemed to be Mother Dairy domain in the icecream sector, has already seen Amul move in only a few weeks back.

And now the time may be opportune to take its Mother Dairy icecream beyond the confines of Delhi. The MDFL already has another brand, Safal, under its belt from the erstwhile fruits and vegetables company, which is increasingly visible in super markets in states such as Gujarat.

Meanwhile, it is understood that staple Amul products like butter is poised to face stiff competition from the Mother Dairy brand as the latter is understood to be readying a butter processing facility in Rajasthan. Soon, a slew of other products like cheese— hitherto Amul's stronghold— may get rolled out from various parts of the country under the Mother Dairy label.

Mr B M Vyas, Managing Director, GCMMF, took a stoic posture on the impending competition virtually from within the co-operative household. "NDDB and Federation (GCMMF) both have common long term goals, that is to serve the interests of milk producers. We are two sides of same coin and may look different from outside...Our roles compliment each other and the question of competition does not arise. The outsider may perceive complimentary role as competition. The fact is we are working together in fighting the multinationals,'' Mr Vyas told Business Line.

However, Mr Deepak Tikku, Managing Director, NDDB, said the dairy board was still formalising its communication strategy and would not like to answer any of the questions, which incidentally were posed to him some 10 days back. It may take another three more weeks before there could be a media interaction on NDDB's new initiatives, he said.

Industry watchers are divided in their opinion over the imminent emergence of another national brand from the co-operative dairy sector. While some feel the MNC brands will benefit from this `healthy' competition, others seem convinced that the customers would get further alienated from the MNC brands as they have yet another viable option. Once again, one will have to wait for the consumers to decide the outcome of this high stakes marketing battle.

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