Aavin all set to go to Singapore

Milk with 180 days shelf life to be sold

Aavin, the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation, will soon test the waters in foreign lands. The milk major, which has chalked out plans to sell (ultra-heat treated) UHT milk with a shelf life of 180 days in 15 countries, will launch the product in Singapore this weekend.

Speaking to The Hindu , Aavin Managing Director C. Kamaraj said that on Saturday a meeting of 200 retailers has been planned as part of the launch event.

“A special pack has been designed for that market. The milk has been certified as fit for consumption in Singapore by an authorised agency. They have a set of quality standards which our milk conforms to. We have also fixed it with an export agent to ship the milk to Singapore. Initially, we plan to sell 50,000 litres a month there,” he said.

The product will be launched by the State Milk Dairy Development Minister K.T. Rajenthra Bhalaji in the presence of officials including Secretary, Dairy Development, K. Gopal and Federation Chairman A. Miller. A tentative price has been fixed for the UHT milk.

But there will be a re-think on the price after officials discuss with retailers, who run supermarkets and also after studying prices of milk from other countries.

Expansion plans

Mr. Kamaraj further said that once they gain a foothold in the Singapore market, Aavin will also start marketing milk powder, premium ghee and flavoured milk.

“We are presently procuring 31.15 lakh litres of milk a day in the State, which is 2.5 lakh litres more than what was procured last year during this time. Instead of just converting to butter and milk powder, we want to expand our markets,” he added. Similarly, Aavin has the capacity to produce 30,000 litres of flavoured milk that can be sold in other markets.