The simple turnover of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, which owns and markets the Amul branded products, rose by 2% to Rs. 39,248 crore (approximately US$ 5.3 billion) in FY 20-21, an increase of only 2% over the previous year’s Rs. 38,550 crore (about US$ 5.2 billion).
The GCMMF’s growth in FY 20-21 is in sharp contrast to its 17% growth in FY19-20. GCMMF said that its increase in turnover was “despite the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on demand from the HoReCa (hotel, restaurant, cafe) segment, as well as the adverse impact on dairy commodity markets.” The world’s eighth-largest dairy group represents some 3.6 million dairy farmers, a small number compared to the country’s 100 million dairy farmers increasingly supplying to new private dairy businesses that are coming up across the country.
In its 75th year, the GCMMF held its 47th annual meeting on 20 July 2021, saying the milk procured from its members rose by 14% in the past financial year – an extra 3.5 to 4 million liters to be processed daily during lockdown conditions. GCMMF’s chairman Shamalbhai Patel pointed out that GCMMF’s milk procurement has increased by 171% in the last eleven years, resulting from the price given to the dairy farmers increasing by 136% over the same period. “The highly remunerative price has helped us retain the farmer’s interest in milk production,” he said. “And better returns from dairying have motivated them to enhance their investments in increasing milk production.”
GCMMF’s managing director RS Sodhi commented on the refocus required to redirect sales during the pandemic from out of home consumption which fell drastically, to increasing in-home consumption. “We redesigned our marketing campaigns to educated and informed consumers about using our range of products to and to try our restaurant-style dishes at home.”
Amul’s consumer pack business grew by 8.1% in the financial year, while its bulk dairy commodities and supplies to hotels and restaurants declined. Sodhi noted, “Impressive growth in sales of consumer products in the household segment helped us overcome the impact on demand from the institutional segment.”
