Special Focus Roundtable
Can India become a highly profitable destination for dairy processing? India already enjoys the accolade of being the largest producer of milk, beating New Zealand few years back. But can it also become a global destination for processing of milk to value-added products? Mahua Roy speaks with experts to find out the plan of action to reach this goal.
Prof (Dr) Anil Kumar Srivastava Director and Vice-Chancellor, NDRI Karnal
R S Sodhi Managing Director, GCMMF
Tapas Chatterjee Managing Director, SSP Pvt Ltd
India has a unique pattern of production, processing and consumption of milk, which is not comparable with any large milk producing country. About 35 per cent of milk produced in India is processed. There is huge potential for processing and value addition, particularly in ethnic Indian products. Variants of traditional dairy products such as low-fat, low-calorie foods are witnessing rising demand. Also, the market for functional foods, probiotic dairy foods, fortified dairy products is growing at a rapid pace. The bakery industry is looking for good quality skimmed milk powder, whey protein isolates & concentrates, etc. Thus, there is huge potential for dairy industry, but extensive R&D efforts are required. Today, dairy industry needs to focus on new process development or modification for lowering the cost of processing, improving quality, enhancing shelf-life of products, etc.
The entire dairy industry needs to come together and promote dairy products in general, independent of brands. Besides, the entire world is watching India with an interest to explore our market. People are demanding more convenient products such as yoghurt. Consumers are gradually shifting from products like carbonated drinks to healthier variants. This is opening up opportunities for the dairy sector, which rests on the health platform. Today, the country requires appropriate technology to process and pack indigenous products made from milk. If such technology is made available and their shelf-life is increased up to six months, then it can revolutionise the entire dairy business scenario in the country. The ethnic products are massoriented and should be prioritised for launches; only then it will be possible to bear the cost of supply chain and distribution.
The dairy industry offers opportunities galore to the entrepreneurs globally. The sales of dairy products in India will nearly double its size to reach ` 5.1 trillion by 2016. The value of the Indian dairy industry is expected to touch ` 5 lakh crore by 2015, with milk output pegged at 190 million tonne at the end of the period. To remain competitive and maintain productivity, the industry needs to adopt energy-efficient measures as well as 3A sanitary standards for fabrication of equipment. Promising sub-sectors in the Indian dairy industry will be the ethnic range such as Indian milk-based traditional products – khoa, milk cake, gulab jamun, shrikhand, paneer, etc. The large-scale commercialisaition of these products will need advanced technology adoption. UHT milk and milk formulations sector is also promising. Quality, safety and health benefits will dictate technology adoption in this sector.
Editorial take
India is leading the bandwagon of dairy producers globally. However, the extent of processing and value-added products manufacturing is still low. Ethnic products segment offers ample opportunities. But, extensive research needs to go into process commercialisation, scaling up and shelf-life enhancement. Besides, significant investment in cold chain operations is needed to make India truly a hub of dairy processing.
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Modern Food Processing | June 2013