India’s dairy milk production topped 200 million litres last year, but along with that there is increasing interest in milk of other animals, particularly camel and goat, for health purposes.

“There is increasing awareness for camel and goat milk. The demand is good,” says Hitesh Rathi, founder, Aadvik Foods. He should know as his firm, launched six years ago, sells camel, goat and donkey milk in the domestic and overseas markets. 

Used by autistic kids

Camel milk is in demand for its medicinal properties, especially for autistic kids. “It helps in improving the behaviour of kids affected by autism. The milk has natural insulin and hence is useful for diabetes. Overall, it has rich source of vitamins,” he said. 

The firm had autistic kids as its most loyal customers. “It may sound odd but it is good for height growth. Eight out of ten users reported growth in height,” Rathi claimed. 

Demand during dengue

Camel milk is also consumed for lactose intolerance, religious purpose, general immunity, while type 1 diabetes kids have also found the need for insulin shots declining, he said.

Goat milk, on the other hand, is in more demand, especially during dengue outbreak, than camel milk but there is question over its quality and authenticity.

“During dengue outbreak, goat milk prices have zoomed to ₹1,800-2,000 in the national capital region of Delhi. But there is no guarantee that you are actually getting goat’s milk,” he said, adding that it was for this purpose that Aadvik Foods got into this segment three years ago. 

Donkey milk

Though has begun dealing with donkey milk on a pilot basis, demand for it is low since it is mainly used for medicinal purpose. “Paediatricians recommend it sometimes as it is good as human milk,” Rathi said. 

The awareness of the goodness of the milk are good as it comes at a time when the population of camel and donkey has been dropping, while that of goat is stabilising.

The population of camel dropped by 1.48 lakh to 2.52 lakh as per 20th Livestock Census done between 2012 and 2019. The number of donkeys in India declined by 71 per cent during the same period to 1.12 lakh. The goat population, however, recovered to 14.89 crore after having dropped to 13.5 crore. In the 18th Livestock census, goat population was 14.05 crore. 

Encouraging signs

Initiatives of firms such as Aadvik are helping those rearing camel and goats, particularly, in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Though the number of camels dropped by 2,795 in Gujarat in 2019, the encouraging aspect is the camel numbers went up in Kutch by 1,086 to 9,053. 

“Though the decline in camel population is alarming, we are seeing a reversal in Kutch,” Rathi said. There are reasons for the rise in camel numbers in Kutch, as today it has turned into a prime source of milk supply. 

“Our main sources of milk are Kutch and Rajasthan. When we launched Aadvik camel milk, we sold only ₹400 worth milk in the first month. Today, sales have crossed ₹50-60 lakh a month,” he said, adding that farmers are getting compensation for the milk on a per lite basis. 

Litre-basis price

“Camel milk is low in fat. So, prices cannot be decided on fat content like cow or buffalo milk. We began to set the prices on litre basis. Today, farmers are getting 2-½-3 times more than what they got before,” Rathi explained. Since camels are over 50 km away from villages, transportation charges are also factored in while fixing the price. 

Last fiscal, Aadvik Foods earned ₹9 crore revenue, but this fiscal it could a little tough on the firm. “This fiscal, sales have been slow in view of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic which dried up global orders,” he said. 

Developing vertical

Most importantly, the firm has developed a vertical for camel milk by producing camel milk, ghee, freeze dried powder, flavoured milk powder, chocolates and cosmetics, especially soaps. It also sells spray dried powder but under a different brand name. 

Stating that awareness of camel milk is at a nascent stage, he said this is because in India people are more used to cow and buffalo milk. “Food habits don’t change easily. Right now, camel milk is consumed for medical reasons. However, people are at least hearing about camel milk now, something unheard of five years ago,” Rathi said. 

The firm supplies the milk across the world through major e-commerce platforms and websites. But offline, it is not as strong as online. 

On promoting camel milk, he said the company was run as a bootstrap firm and it needs to be careful in spending to ensure maximum impact from whatever campaign it launches. 

Issues with goat milk

“That’s why we brought in chocolate as a bridge product. Many many not drink camel milk directly since they could be biased against it. But if they are asked to try camel chocolates, they may opt for it,” Rathi said. 

After having ventured into camel milk, Aadvik Foods has now forayed into goat and donkey milk. “We entered the goat milk segment three-and-a-half years ago on a small scale. We are into donkey milk segment too but the market for it is yet to be developed,” Rathi said. 

Though goat milk is more popular than that of camel, erratic supply and quality issued affected demand. “Our objective of entering the segment was to make quality and branded product available at the door step,” he said.

Anti-ageing properties

Goat milk is witnessing a rise in demand, though last year Aadvik saw a drop in business-to-business segment demand, mainly on the export front. “We saw a definite growth in the business-to-consumer segment,” the firm’s founder said.

Aadvik Foods will soon launch flavoured goat milk and goat milk chocolate. “Goat milk is recommended for kids. But they may not like the smell. So, flavoured milk can be a way out. Goat milk is also low in lactose, good for digestion and kids with dairy milk allergy, besides recuperation from muscle problems,” he said. 

On donkey milk, Rathi said it was also in demand from the skin care industry for its anti-ageing properties.

The company has raised its own resources so far apart from taking debts. It has been profitable until last fiscal and reinvested its reserves and surpluses in business. 

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