Excess milk produced in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi will soon be supplied to schoolchildren in Andhra Pradesh through the Karnataka Milk Federation.
Dakshina Kannada Cooperative Milk Union Ltd. (DKMUL) has begun manufacturing ultra heat treated (UHT) milk, which has a shelf life of up to 90 days, Raviraj Hegde, president, DKMUL told The Hindu .
Mr. Hegde said of the four lakh litres collected by the DKMUL from the two districts every day, 15,000 litres are in excess. This, along with an additional 15,000 litres of milk procured from Hassan Cooperative Milk Union, is being converted as UHT milk in one day. This means that there is 30,000 litres of UHT milk a day for supply to Andhra Pradesh.
He said milk from Hassan was being procured because the KMF had asked DKMUL to manufacture 30,000 litres of UHT milk a day for the supply.
Business expansion
Mr. Hegde said DKMUL would soon expand its milk business in Kerala. Today, it markets milk in flexi packets with a shelf life up to 90 days without refrigeration in Kasaragod and some parts of Kannur districts. “We will supply the same brand of milk to the districts beyond Kannur,” he said.
DKMUL is also ready to supply its new brand, ‘Trupti’ milk in flexi packets to schoolchildren in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, but is awaiting the outcome of talks with the State government.
Mobile bulk milk cooler
Mr. Hegde said a mobile bulk milk cooler of the DKMUL, launched recently, would be initially used for collecting excess milk in Baindoor area in Udupi district. This mobile facility is to be used when any of the 95 stationed bulk milk coolers across the two districts develop a snag. Now, milk produced in Baindoor area is in excess of the storage limit of stationed bulk milk coolers in that area. Hence the mobile one would collect excess milk and transport the same to the dairy.
