JOIN USLearning a management lesson during the lockdown against Covid-19, when private bakers increasingly relied on the Nandini milk booths run by Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) to sell their breads, the KMF has now launched its own bread brand in four different varieties.
The ‘Nandini Goodlife Bread’ by the KMF - an apex body of the farmers’ dairy cooperative movement across Karnataka, will be introduced across Bengaluru on a pilot basis for a month. “Currently we have released milk bread, sandwich bread, whole wheat bread and multigrain bread varieties. While we are aiming to sell around 2.5 lakh pounds of bread during the pilot, about 5,000 pounds of bread have already been released to the market,” explained Balchandra L Jarakiholi, chairperson of KMF. The cost of 200-gram bread of all varieties varies from Rs 22 to Rs 30.
Recalling the story behind the latest product, an official from KMF said, “Milk and bread go hand in hand. Many of our milk parlours used to sell local bread earlier. During the lockdown as bakeries were shut, many pushed their bread brands through our milk parlours. Understanding the requirement of our customers, we decided to come up with our brand of bread in different varieties.” Currently, in the absence of required infrastructure, the entire production of bread has been outsourced to a private company, according to KMF officials.
According to B C Sateesh, CEO and Managing Director of KMF, the actual strength of the KMF bread is the pure Nandini milk, ghee and butter. “Further the bread is priced at an affordable cost with Rs 2 to 3 lesser than the market price and has a shelf-life of 4 to 5 days. All raw materials including flour, dry fruits are sourced from APMC and Hopcoms, which are in the forefront of farmers’ cooperative movement,” he explained.
27 chocolate varieties
Planning global foot-print with its value-addition products, KMF will roll out premium chocolates by March-April coinciding with Ugadi festival. “Making use of the skimmed milk powder and cocoa butter sourced from our farmers, we are planning to manufacture 27 varieties of premium chocolates similar to the popular national and international brands. These chocolates will be sold across the country and priced from Rs 10 to Rs 60,” revealed a marketing official from KMF.