Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable., a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), is planning a foray into the nutrition products segment, managing director S. Nagarajan said.
Lifestyle changes and the “gender-specific” needs of people in the 11 to 59 years age-group, has created the need for products which will help overcome deficiencies in calcium, iron, vitamins and micronutrients, Mr. Nagarajan said after unveiling the company’s milk portfolio here, under a new brand ‘Dailycious.’
Although a three to a five-year timeline is being thought of for entering the nutrition product segment, no firm dates have been fixed yet, he said. Indications are that fibre-packed vegetable juices may be among the initial offerings.
Mother Dairy has an innovation centre near Delhi, where a ₹15 crore investment was made this year, Mr Nagarajan said.
The company, which is targeting a ₹10,000 turnover in 2019 (from about ₹8,000 crore estimated this fiscal), has four product segments – milk, value-added products, edible oil (Dhara brand) and fruits and vegetables.“The fastest growth is from value-added segment of ice cream, dahi, butter milk, followed by edible oil, fruits and vegetables, and milk” Mr. Nagarajan said.
Mother Dairy also supplies fruit-pulps and concentrates to multinationals like Coca Cola, Pepsi and Nestle, and has an export turnover of around ₹200 crore, Mr. Nagarajan said.
Sandeep Ghosh, Business Head, said that the introduction of the milk portfolio will strengthen the company’s position in Kolkata.
NDDB ran the ‘Operation Flood ‘ project in West Bengal till the nineties when it handed over the brand to the state government, on the understanding that the state government will have the exclusive rights to the Mother Dairy brand for milk products. Mother Dairy cannot market its milk products here.
“We may start promoting `Dailycious’ as a second brand ... necessary investments will be made,” Mr. Nagarajan said. He said that eastern and western India were now the thrust markets for Mother Dairy.
