Mother Dairy has already partnered with MPOs such as Sahaj, Bani, Srija and Payas, who are all marketing their milk under the Mother Dairy brand.
| Photo Credit:
SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has charted out an expansion plan for Mother Dairy through a forward linkage initiative, under which milk producer organisations (MPOs) are being persuaded to sell their produce through Mother Dairy brand as it tries to bridge the gap between procurement and marketing.

“Milk procurement through their network is the forte of these MPOs while Mother Dairy is already an established brand. So, we want these MPOs to focus on their own strength without bothering on marketing,” NDDB chairman Meenesh Shah told businessline.

Stating that NDDB has recently signed an MoU with the Odisha government to promote MPOs in non-represented districts in the State and also help revive its Omfed brand, Shah said such initiatives are also being chalked out for other States as well. Discussion with Assam is also going on, he said.

Women empowerment

Commenting on the 23 MPOs, where nearly 75 per cent of the members are women, being promoted by NDDB, Shah said several of them have already been connected with Mother Dairy, which has committed to buy the entire quantity of milk they (MPOs) procure from farmers. Once these MPOs reach a good position financially, they will be encouraged to set up their own processing units.

Mother Dairy was commissioned under the Operation Flood initiative with the dual objective of ensuring direct market access and right remuneration for the milk producers while providing quality dairy produce to urban consumers at affordable prices. As a subsidiary of NDDB, Mother Dairy has successfully upheld its mandate for over five decades, playing a transformative role in India’s dairy sector, said Manish Bandlish, Managing Director, Mother Dairy.

“In our relentless pursuit of this objective (right remuneration for producers and quality produce at affordable prices for consumers), we have expanded our presence beyond the NCR region over the years. Our recent foray into markets of Rajasthan, Punjab, and Andhra Pradesh with taking over of front-end sales operations of NDDB-founded milk producing organisations, marks a continued stride in this journey,” Bandlish said.

The company will keep empowering regional dairy farmers and will also enhance milk and milk products distribution networks in these regions, he said.

Other MPO partners

Last week, addressing a gathering of milk producers, mainly women, near Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, Shah asked the board members of Balini, an MPO started in 2019, to raise their daily procurement to 5 lakh litres from current 3 lakh litres and assured that Mother Dairy would buy their entire produce.

“You’ve been working for six years since 2019. If Mother Dairy had not provided you with the forward linkage for milk, think about where you would have been today,” Shah told the gathering. “If you wish to sell milk and products under the Balini brand, I don’t think you will be able to make it sustainable,” he said.

He said in 16 of the 23 MPOs promoted by NDDB, not only the members are women, but the entire board is composed of women.

“Out of around 180 board of directors in these MPOs, 140 are women,” he added.

Mother Dairy has already partnered with MPOs such as Sahaj, Bani, Srija and Payas, who are all marketing their milk under the Mother Dairy brand.

Published on April 7, 2025