Milma is venturing into products beyond milk and milk products through its sister concern Malabar Rural Development Foundation.
Milma chairman K.S.Mani told reporters in Kozhikode on Tuesday that the foundation was bringing out products such as ready to cook vegetable biryani, rasam powder, turmeric powder, pepper powder, coffee powder, and chukku kappi under its banner. He said that the foundation had around 45 non-milk products at present.
Mr.Mani said that the federation was paying a much higher price for milk in Kerala. This was a welfare measure and not financially viable. Hence, the decision to venture into other products. The federation could continue to support dairy farmers when all sectors crumbled due to the pandemic, he said.
There was a steep increase in the amount of milk collected by Milma in the past one year. This was the result of the federation’s creative intervention in the dairy sector using the State and Central funds effectively, he said.
While the milk production in the Malabar region had been higher compared with the Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam regions, the sale of milk had declined considerably in the region in the past one year in contrast to the other two regions, he said, adding that shops and restaurants remaining closed due to the lockdown was the main reason behind this. Hence, the excess milk was being sent to neighbouring States to be converted into milk powder.
However, it was not a viable option and hence, Milma would set up a milk powder production plant at Moorkanad in Malappuram district soon, he said.
