Milk to pinch common man's pocket as Mother Dairy, Amul hike prices

Amid rising inflation and input costs, two major dairy brands—Amul and Mother Dairy—have raised prices of milk starting Wednesday.

The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets its dairy products under the Amul brand, on Tuesday increased the prices of its Gold, Taaza and Shakti milk brands by Rs 2 per litre. Meanwhile, Mother Dairy decided to increase milk prices by Rs 2 per litre in the Delhi-NCR due to rise in its procurement and other input costs.

The hike of Rs 2 per litre translates into a four per cent increase in MRP, which is lower than the average food inflation, GCMMF's statement said.

"The GCMMF has decided to increase the milk prices by Rs 2 per litre in the markets of Ahmedabad and Saurashtra region in Gujarat, Delhi NCR,West Bengal, Mumbai and all other markets where Amul is marketing its fresh milk," the Anand-headquartered federation said.

In Ahmedabad and Saurashtra markets, now the price of 500 ml of Amul Gold will be Rs 31, Amul Taaza- Rs 25 and Amul Shakti- Rs 28, it said.

"The cattle feeding cost alone has increased by approximately 20 per cent compared to last year. Considering the rise in input costs, our member unions have also increased farmers' prices in the range of eight to nine per cent over the previous year," the statement said. Amul as a policy passes on almost 80 paise of every rupee paid by consumers to the milk producers, Amul said.

"The price revision shall help in sustaining remunerative prices for our milk producers and encourage them for higher milk production," it added.

In March, Mother Dairy increased milk prices by Rs 2 per litre in the Delhi-NCR (National Capital Region).

Mother Dairy is one of the leading milk suppliers in the Delhi-NCR market and sells more than 30 lakh litres per day in poly packs and through vending machines.

A company official on Tuesday said it is "compelled" to raise its liquid milk prices by Rs 2 per litre with effect from August 17, 2022. The new prices will be applicable for all milk variants.

Full cream milk will cost Rs 61 per litre from Wednesday, up from Rs 59 per litre. Prices of toned milk will increase to Rs 51 while double toned milk will rise to Rs 45 per litre. Cow milk price have been hiked to Rs 53 per litre. Bulk vended milk (token milk) price has been raised to Rs 48 from Rs 46 per litre.

The company has witnessed an increase in input costs in the last five months, the official said.

For instance, the farm prices of raw milk have spiked by about 10-11 per cent.

Likewise, the cost of feed and fodder has also witnessed a significant rise due to the heat wave and extended summer season.

According to the official, the surge in farm prices is only being partially passed on to the consumers, thereby securing the interests of both the stakeholders – consumers and farmers.

The company spends around 75-80 per cent of the sales realisation from milk towards the procurement of milk from the farmers.