Page 50 - DMGT509_RURAL MARKETING

Unit 2: Rural Marketing Environment

40 per cent is sold as liquid milk and 60 per cent is converted to value added products. Notes
Pizzas had been estimated to sell 100,000 pieces a day. Flavoured milk and ice-cream
continued to be touted as success stories. Plans for a nationwide launch of soups had also
been announced. Ahmedabad was reportedly selling 5000 litres of lassi a day. How much
true were those claims? It turned out that the initial enthusiasm over value added products
was misplaced. The outlets offering the pizzas did not know how to serve them. R S Sodhi,
GM Marketing said, "Pizzas by themselves were a small category than even namkeens. All
we wanted to do was promote the consumption of mozzarella cheese which we succeeded
in doing." The ice-cream venture was a little more successful, given that Amul could price
it really well. However, there were other strong players who could gear up for competition.
Mother Dairy Foods, the marketing subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board
(NDDB) had signed agreements with other state cooperative milk marketing federations,
to set up joint venture companies and market their produce, including ice-creams, under
the mother dairy brand. Right into Amul native markets! To top it all, worms were found
inside Amulspray baby feed. The Maharashtra FDA ordered immediate withdrawal of the
product from Mumbai. One brand and so many brand extensions, Amul claimed that its
extensions had not been costing too much money, as the marketing effort was minimal.
The name Amul was good enough to sell whatever it endorsed. But whenever a brand
launch is declared unsuccessful, it does not reflect well upon the company. Where is the
company headed, and more importantly, should it be headed there?
The story of Anand Milk Union Limited began way back in 1946 as an offshoot of the
freedom movement with an aim to do away with the exploitation of middlemen in milk
collection and give the villagers the best returns for milk. AMUL began the dairy cooperative
movement in the country and formed an apex cooperative organization, Gujarat
Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF), which is jointly owned by some
2.2 million milk producers in Gujarat Now, not only has the milk collection and the
number of co-operative members increased but AMUL was also giving a stiff challenge to
the multinationals.
Consider this; AMUL was a leader in baby food, dairy whiteners, cheese and ice creams. It
held an 86 per cent market share in butter. Exports of milk and milk products were 80
crore per annum. This was certainly a giant leap when one considered that in 1946 when it
began, it had only two village societies and a collection of 247 litres of milk daily. The
primary goal of Dr. V. Kurien, Chairman GCMMF, the "Milkman of INDIA", had been to
build a strong Indian society through an innovative cooperative network, to provide
quality service and products to end-consumers and good returns to the farmer members.
Kurien averred, "We have traversed a path that few have dared to. We are continuing on
a path that still fewer have the courage to follow. We must pursue a path that even fewer
can dream of pursuing. Yet, we must. We hold in trust the aims and aspirations of millions
of our countrymen." During 2001-02, GCMMF's member unions put together procured
45.87 lakh litres of milk per day (LLPD), with the leading contributor being Mehsana
(11.15 LLPD). Kaira (6.88 LLPD), followed by Banaskantha (6.86 LLPD), Sabarkantha (6.18
LLPD), Surat (5.29 LLPD), Baroda (2.44 LLPD), Panchmahal (2.01 LLPD), Valsad (1.83 LLPD),
Ahmedabad (1.15 LLPD), Gandhinagar (1.05 LLPD), Rajkot (0.81 LLPD) and Bharuch (0.24
LLPD). In addition to the well-thought out cooperative movement, information technology
(IT) had played a significant role in developing AMUL brand. The logistics behind
coordinating the collection of some 6 million litres of milk per day from 10,755 separate
Village Cooperative Societies throughout Gujarat and then storing, processing and
producing milk products at the respective 12 District Dairy Unions, were awesome. The
installation of 3000 Automatic Milk Collection System Units (AMCUS) at Village Societies

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