There has been a steady increase in the demand for Aavin butter but the supply is no match. Long queues are a common sight in front of the Aavin kiosks in many localities in the mornings, when fresh stocks arrive.
Butter packets and ghee bottles vanish as fast as they arrive. Even the Aavin parlours in Adyar, Nandanam, Anna Nagar or Panagal Park, which are popular, do not receive adequate supply of these two products. Sales assistants in some of the kiosks say while the number of customers has increased, the supply has diminished drastically.
The kiosks in Ezhilagam on Kamaraj Salai and near Kuralagam in Parry's Corner are among those running short of butter and ghee. They are able to meet only 10 per cent of the demand, the sales assistants say.
The competitive pricing and the quality of the Aavin products are the key drivers of the demand. The shortage in supply is not something to do with the butter and ghee as the perennially busy kiosk in Ezhilagam faced a shortage of flavoured milk recently. While new stocks arrived three days ago, the kiosks in Perambur and Kolathur continue to wait for the supply of flavoured milk.
A sales assistant in the Panagal Park kiosk said only five packets of butter and 10 containers of ghee are supplied daily. The sales assistant in the Pondy Bazaar kiosk said butter and ghee are sold out within five minutes of arrival.
An Aavin franchisee in Kolathur said he places indent every two days for butter and ghee. Every month he would indent for 60 to 100 packets of butter. “I used to place orders for around 50 kg of butter. But now the supply has fallen to 7.5 kg,” he said. Ever since the strike by milk producers, he had not been receiving his regular supply of flavoured milk either.
A spokesperson for Aavin said the demand is high because butter and ghee are priced Rs.40 less than those sold by private manufacturers. “Butter and ghee are sold only through our outlets or franchisees. Daily we supply 1.5 tonnes each of butter and ghee but the demand could be as high as four tonnes,” the official said.
Aavin outlets have also been advised against selling large quantities to a single consumer as a measure to ensure that more customers get the products, he added.
As for shortage of flavoured milk, the official said it was being procured from Salem. “Our priority is to supply milk to all consumers. Only the surplus is converted or diverted to make other products. Butter requires large quantities of milk unlike ice cream or kova,” the official explained.
Generally the period between January and March-end is a lean period for milk procurement and there would be a dip in milk supply. By April supply picks up, he added.
