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Vinod Mathew

ANAND, April 6

COME the Indian summer and one has got pretty much used to seeing the invariable turf war brewing between Coke and Pepsi.

This brawl between the two heavyweights is likely to get a new twist as an unlikely candidate is getting ready to take a piece of that sizable pie called the parched Indian throat. And the pitch is the natural vs the artificial.

It's none other than Amul, the brand promoted by Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), that is threatening to take on the might of the MNCs this summer.

Ready for a rollout in the Gujarat, Mumbai and Delhi markets in a matter of days is Amul Shakti, the flavoured milk that has been under various stages of development since 1996.

Talking to Business Line, Mr B.M. Vyas, Managing Director, GCMMF, said the latest offering from the Amul stable has already been test-launched in select outlets a few weeks ago and it had received good response.

The first phase of the launch is already under way with five bottling centres operational and another four would be ready by month-end, he said.

Initially on offer would be four flavours - rose, coffee, kesar and elaichi.

"This one product has taken six years to reach the commercial launch stage and now, we have an installed capacity of three lakh bottles per day. The milk drink comes in specially designed bottles that can be thrown away by the consumer after use, thus tackling a major logistical aspect in the supply chain called the backward movement of the container.

Importantly, it has a minimum shelf-life of 90 days at room temperature, and it could easily last for double that period", Mr Vyas said. While each bottle costs GCMMF Rs 2, Amul Shakti is priced Rs 8 per 200 ml bottle in Gujarat. And doubling up as bottling centres of the flavoured milk are the co-operative dairy plants at Anand, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Godhra, Mehsana and Rajkot.

Though it has been priced Rs 10 outside Gujarat, the two bottling centres at Nagpur and Mumbai give an inkling of things to come. The GCMMF has set itself a target of selling one million bottles per day in the next couple of seasons.

In a bid to cover its flanks, as it were, the `Taste of India' will also be available in the form of sweet lassi this season.

Branded Amul Lassee, and initially being served in two flavours, rose and kevda, it is the Mehsana dairy that is manufacturing `Mast Dahi' that has been assigned the target of converting 50,000 litres of milk per day into lassi. The downside is that it requires refrigerated storage and even then can boast of a shelf-life of not more than 10 days. However, the marketing think-tank at Amul has contrived to package the product in such a fashion that the 500 ml PET bottle in blue looks quite similar to some of those currently offered by the soft drink majors. And the USP here, as in any other Amul product, is the price tag. At Rs 10 per 500 ml bottle and at Rs 8 per 300 ml bottle, Amul Lassee seems to have given an option for the milk guzzlers. With the Amul platter getting a more rounded look as it strives to become a complete food company (ready for launch in May is the Amul soup), it appears as if the GCMMF can do no wrong.

With the fiscal ended March 31, 2003 closing with a turnover of Rs 2,747 crore, registering a 17 per cent growth over the previous year, the Amul shareholders - owners of 32 lakh buffaloes, 10 lakh desi cows and three lakh cross bred cows - are getting a decent return on investment (RoI).

At an average investment of Rs 15,000 per milch animal, the productive capital investment by its shareholders works out at Rs 7,350 crore, not all of it in hard cash as this is one investment that periodically multiplies.

And the daily return, at Rs 12 per litre of milk, is an impressive Rs 6.24 crore, as 52 lakh litres of milk are purchased by the GCMMF from its members each day.

Adding up to Rs 2,277 crore per annum, not a bad RoI on buffaloes and other sundry milch animals by any stretch of imagination.

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