Milma vs Nandini: Kerala brand calls for national-level guideline on raw milk sale, but goes soft on private firms

Kerala’s stance became popular after it levelled its criticism amid the controversy between Nandini and Gujarat’s milk cooperative Amul over the jurisdiction of the sale of fresh milk products.

However, despite dialogue between both cooperatives, the situation has been unchanged.

Related: Nandini on Milma crosshairs for selling ‘fresh products’ in Kerala

Kerala files suit

On Thursday, 15 June, Kerala Animal Husbandry and Dairy Minister J Chinchu Rani told reporters that the Kerala government sent a letter to the NDDB for its intervention into the matter.

“Nandini is owned by the Karnataka government, and its milk products fall in the cooperative sector. Usually, when such cooperatives enter another state, the respective state government’s approval is taken. Thus, regarding this, we have filed a complaint with the NDDB and we seek an investigation into it,” she said.

The minister also hailed Milma for the quality of its products and raised concerns regarding the quality of milk being imported to Kerala.

“Milma products are made by the farmers from our state, and consumed by people across Kerala. Two weeks ago, there were news reports that the milk produced in Kerala was of the best quality. India’s Animal Husbandry Department survey found that the best quality milk in the country was produced in the Malabars and sold by Milma,” she said.

Also read: Repositioning Milma: KCMMF all set to revamp brand image

On selling ‘fresh milk’ products

In April, Milma Managing Director (MD) Asif K Yusuf told South First that the Kerala government had communicated the issue to Karnataka regarding the sale of fresh milk products but the situation did not change.

He said Milma did not have any disagreements with Nandini over the sale of products in Kerala, and that the opposition was only on the sale of fresh products — like milk, curd, and buttermilk — in the state.

“To my knowledge, the Karnataka government has not responded to the letter by the Kerala government secretary, but in communication with the chairman of Milma over the phone, it said it would not sell fresh products in Kerala,” said Yusuf back then.

“But Nandini is selling milk in many places in the Ernakulam and Malappuram districts of the state even now,” he added.

Also read: Kerala has not implemented incentive scheme, say dairy farmers

‘Not against sister federations’

Milma Chairman KS Mani told South First that Kerala’s milk cooperative federation did not intend to turn the issue into a controversy, but would ensure that cooperative norms in place for many decades remained for the betterment of the dairy farmers of the state.

“We don’t want to turn it into a controversy and we are not against any of our sister organisations. All the federations have been doing business for many decades based on the strategy developed by Verghese Kurien. That Amul pattern has been introduced throughout India, which has resulted in large-scale production of milk, and we (India) became the largest producer of milk and milk products,” said Mani.

He opined that while registering each federation of the cooperative departments, the jurisdictions were very well defined and these principles continued for many decades, and that was recently violated by Nandini.

He also recalled that during the controversy relating to Amul and Nandini, Milma extended its support to Nandini.

Also read: Why Kerala dairies are in tough space at the moment

‘Unethical competition will affect farmers’

Mani noted that recently the Karnataka federation started selling milk not only in Kerala but also in other states.

“I wrote a letter to the National Cooperative Diary Federation of India (NCDFI) board chairman stating that this was against cooperative norms and federal harmony,” Mani told South First.

According to Mani, the Kerala federation provides numerous benefits to farmers of the state, and “unethical” competitions affect them.

“In the first week of April, I saw some reports that the Karnataka milk federation was objecting to milk being sold by Amul in that state. Farmers and even political parties vehemently objected to the entry of Amul into the state,” noted Mani.

“This is when we released a statement saying that the entry of Amul was incorrect. But when the Karnataka federation is objecting to the entry of Amul, why is it doing the same thing in other states?” he asked.

The Milma chairperson also recalled that the regional milk federations united in 2019 and vehemently opposed the Union government joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a China-backed free trade agreement (FTA) that had 15 nations.

“The reason was simply that it would affect the farmers of our country. So Milma, Amul, Nandini, and all the federations unitedly objected to their entry,” opined Mani.

However, according to Mani, Milma will seek a national-level guideline to solve the ongoing crisis.

No objection to private players

In an earlier interview with South First, farmers’ Kerala Karshaka Congress leader Aby Ipe criticised the government for signing contracts with private groups instead of strengthening the state’s milk cooperatives.

He cited the example of the contract with Muralya Dairy Products, a part of the UAE-based SFC Group.

The Kerala government, as part of this deal, allocated 4.6 acres of land to the company to set up a ₹100-crore mega dairy project and logistics unit in the industrial area of the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation in Angamaly.

When South First sought Mani’s response on this, he said Milma had no objection to private players entering the market, but the issue with Nandini was about violating the principles of the cooperative law.

“This itself shows we are not against processing or selling milk by any private players. This is approved in India, and there are many private players and brands selling raw milk in Kerala and we are not against it. But this is different for cooperative movements in the country,” said Mani.