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Nilgiris Dairy Farm chalks out expansion plan
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Saturday, 29 October, 2005, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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MV Chandrashekar, Bangalore
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Nilgiris Dairy Farm, the largest suppliers of milk in Karnataka in the private sector, is investing Rs 50 lakh for a sizeable expansion plan which includes owning 50 cattle heads (cows/buffaloes), increase in the collection of milk to 40,000 litres from the current 30, 000 litres and set up refrigeration centres at the collection points to maintain the freshness of milk before it is transported.
The dairy major, which was sourcing milk from farmers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, is already known for its high quality milk as it procures 80 per cent of buffalo milk (which is known to be a good whitener for tea and coffee) from Nammakal and 20 per cent of cow milk from other regions. The dairy maintained that the milk procurement from farmers would continue.
A new project, which is expected to come up at Thaly near Hosur, will have mechanised technology for milking. Within 3 months, chilling coolers will be set up at the collection centres where farmers will supply milk to Nilgiris and will be transported for processing at their factory located at Bommasandra in the outskirts of Bangalore which has a storage capacity of 60,000 litres.
Nilgiris owns 12 acres of land at Bommasandra and the dairy spans over 5 acres at an investment of Rs 4 crore. The dairy equipment include double jacketed insulated stainless steel, ammonia chilling plant, pasteuriser, a 5,000 litre capacity cream separator and a 5,000 litres capacity filling 3-double headed machines. The milk is transported in puff insulated vehicles to maintain the temperature.
For environment protection reasons, the dairy has also set up an effluent treatment plant (ETP) and the waste water is treated and used for the garden. With regard to hygiene, the dairy ensures that no flies or birds are visible anywhere near the processing plant. In a joint venture with Nestle, Nilgiris has also been able to keep rodents and other insects away, informs C Kumar, Director, the Nilgiris Dairy Farm Ltd.
The dairy which commenced operations in 1960 has maintained a large portfolio of customers from industries, households, healthcare institutions and government sector. The products include milk, flavoured milk, buttermilk, curds, shrikhand, ghee, butter and a variety of cheese. Rich milk has 4.5 per cent fat content, 8.5 SNF (solid non-fat), regular toned milk has 3 per cent fat and 8.5 SNF, skimmed milk 0.5 fat and9 SNF.
There is intense competition in the packed liquid milk market with regional cooperative dairies, which currently dominate the segment. The competitors for Niligiris include KMF, Heritage and Arogya.
The dairy has also managed to maintain a leadership status in the curds segment and plans to increase its presence in the market with the introduction of fruit yoghurt (pineapple, strawberry, orange) and sweetened curds. Currently, 8,000 litres of curds are produced a day.
The curd is prepared at the new plant set up at an investment of Rs 18 lakh which has storage tanks, heaters and a cold storage unit. Nilgiris also has undertaken under contract packaging of 4,000 litres curds for Nestle in 200 and 400gm pouches.
According to Kumar for the fruit yoghurt products, the dairy has invested Rs 10 lakh for a machine from Flimatic Co. in Africa to bottle 1,800 packs of 200ml in one hour with a shelf life of 15 days. In fact, Nilgiris' is the pioneer in marketing yoghurt in tetra packs stated Kumar.
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