AMUL – THE TASTE OF INDIA
VARGHESE KURIEN – ROLE MODEL FOR AMUL
V. Kurien possessed all professional & management skills which helped to prosper the Amul Company. V. Kurien is considered to be one of the world's great agricultural leaders of this century. The collection of his speeches help to light the way for those who must carry on the battle to ensure greater food security, prosperity, and peace to the world. Dr. Verghese Kurien is the Chairman of India's National Dairy Development Board, the National Cooperative Dairy Federation of India and the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation. His professional life has been dedicated to empowering the Indian farmer through cooperatives. The architect of India's White Revolution, "Operation Flood" work has been recognized by the award of a Padma Bhushan, the Ramon Magsaysay Prize for Community Leadership, the Carnegie-Wateler World Peace Prize, and the World Food Prize. A dream in which regardless of origin, place of birth, occupation, or of language, each Indian has an equal opportunity to share in the nation's blessings, and to contribute to the nation's progress.
Dr. Verghese Kurien, founder chairman of the national dairy development board and founder chairman of Gujarat cooperative milk marketing federation, popularly known for his utterly butterly delicious “AMUL”. He is a businessman, par excellence but it would be quite a narrow classification for a man whose achievements go far beyond the realm of business. He is an excellent businessman, a highly successful chief executive, an institution builder, a social reformer and a socio economic revolutionary. He has achieved a tremendous national and international recognition. The government of India conferred on him the PADMA VIBHUSHAN.
He was the chairman of NDDB since its inception in 1965 and the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF). He has been recognized as the doodhwala from Anand. His life is as study as to how business can start a social revolution. The basic philosophy of ANAND
pattern is to combine India’s greatest asset the power of its people with professional management, in a vertically integrated co-operative structure that establishes a direct contact between those who produce the milk and those who consume it. AMUL products are available throughout the country which is our distribution reach and our turnover exceeds Rs. 3000 crores. He is also a member of the planning commission, vice chancellor, Gujurat Agricultural University, Chairman Gujarat Electricity Board, and Member of the Technology Mission on Dairy Development of the Government of India and continues to be the Chairman of Institute of Rural Management (IRMA).
AMUL – TASTE OF INDIA
INTRODUCTION:-
Amul began the dairy cooperative movement in India and formed an apex cooperative organization, Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF), which today is jointly owned by some 2.2 million milk producers in Gujarat, India. Amul was formally registered on December 14, 1946. The brand name Amul, sourced from the Sanskrit word Amoolya, means priceless. It was suggested by a quality control expert in Anand. Some cite the origin as an acronym to (Anand Milk Union Limited).The Amul revolution was started as awareness among the farmers. It grew and matured into a protest movement that was channeled towards economic prosperity.
ORGANISATION:-
Amul is a dairy cooperative movement in India. It is a brand name managed by an apex cooperative organization, Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF), which today is jointly owned by some 2.41 million milk producers in Gujarat, India. It is based in Anand town of Gujarat and has been a sterling example of a co-operative organization's success in the long term. The Amul Pattern has established itself as a uniquely appropriate model for rural development. Amul has spurred the White Revolution of India, which has made India one of the largest milk producers in the world. It is also the world's biggest vegetarian cheese brand. Success of Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers' Union Limited and setting up of District Co-operative Milk Producers' Unions needed a state-level organization for entire Gujarat. That leads to creation of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF).
RANGE OF PRODUCTS:-
Amul's product range includes milk powders, milk, butter, ghee, cheese, chocolate, ice cream, cream, shrikhand, paneer, gulab jamuns, basundi, Nutramul brand and others. . Amul Butter, Amul Milk Powder, Amul Ghee, Amulspray, Amul Cheese, Amul Chocolates, Amul Shrikhand, Amul Ice cream, Nutramul, Amul Milk and Amulya In January 2006, Amul plans to launch India's first sports drink Stamina, which will be competing with Coca Cola's Powerade and PepsiCo's Gatorade.
COMPETITION AND EXPORT:-
In January 2006, Amul plans to launch India's first sports drink Stamina, which will be competing with Coca Cola's Powerade and PepsiCo's Gatorade Amul is the largest food brand in India with an annual turnover of US $868 million (2005-06). Currently Amul has 2.41 million producer members with milk collection average of 5.08 million litres/day. Besides India, Amul has entered overseas markets such as Mauritius, UAE, USA, Bangladesh, Australia, China, Singapore, Hong Kong and a few South African countries. Its bid to enter Japanese market in 1994 had not succeeded, but now it has fresh plans of flooding the Japanese markets. Other potential markets being considered include Sri Lanka.
Dr. V.KURIEN – THE KEY PERSON
Dr Verghese Kurien, the chairman of the GCMMF, is recognized as the man behind the success of Amul. The primary goal of Dr. V. Kurien, Chairman GCMMF, the "Milk Man of India", has been to build a strong Indian society economically through an innovative cooperative network, to provide quality service and products to end-consumers and good returns to the farmer members. Dr. Kurien states, "We have traversed a path that few have dared to. We are continuing on a path that still fewer have the
courage to follow. We must pursue a path that even fewer can dream to pursue. Yet, we must. We hold in trust the aims and aspirations of millions of our countrymen."
REVOLUTIONARY WORK:-
In 1996 Amul was one of the first major organizations in India to have a website. This site has been used both to develop an intranet of Amul distributors as well as a cyber-store for consumers, one of the first examples of e-commerce activity in India. The CEO of Amul, Mr. B M Vyas, recently said, "Amul is not a food company, it is an IT company in the food business". He was recognizing that the most efficient way of building links between milk producers and consumers so as to provide the best returns for both is through IT innovation.
Amul has been able to withstand the onslaught of private and foreign players in the dairy industry and has also been able to export products in limited quantities. The success of Amul resulted in similar organizations being setup by state governments throughout India, most of which had reasonable success. Examples are Vijaya in Andhra Pradesh, Aavin in Tamil Nadu and others.
SITUATION OF FARMERS:-
Over five decades ago, the life of an average farmer in Kheda District was very much like that of his/her counterpart anywhere else in India. His/her income was derived almost entirely from seasonal crops. The income from milk buffaloes was undependable. Private traders and middlemen controlled the marketing and distribution system for the milk. As milk is perishable, farmers were compelled to sell it for whatever they were offered. Often, they had to sell cream and ghee at throw-away prices. In this situation, the private trader made a killing. Gradually, the realization dawned on the
farmers that the exploitation by the trader could be checked only if they marketed their milk themselves. Amul was the result of the realization that they could pool up their milk and work as a cooperative.
KAIRA DISTRICT CO-OPERATIVE MILK PRODUCERS UNION:-
The Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers' Union Limited began pasteurizing milk for the Bombay Milk Scheme in June 1948. By the end of 1948, more than 400 farmers joined in more Village Society, and the quantity of milk handled by one Union increased from 250 to 5,000 liters a day. The success of Amul was instrumental in launching the White Revolution that resulted in increased milk production in India. It is officially termed as Operation Flood by Amul. The breakthrough technology of spray-drying and processing buffalo milk, developed by Mr. H.M. Dalaya, was one of the key factors that contributed to the Revolution.
EXTRA ORDINARY STORY OF AMUL
Every day Amul collects 447,000 litres of milk from 2.12 million farmers (many illiterate), converts the milk into branded, packaged products, and delivers goods worth Rs 6 crore (Rs 60 million) to over 500,000 retail outlets across the country. Its supply chain is easily one of the most complicated in the world. If we are visit to any Amul or Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) office a photograph of Mahatma Gandhi will be missing but we can certainly see one particular photograph showing a long line of Gujarati women waiting patiently for a union truck to come and collect the milk they have brought in shining brass matkas. This makes the farmers or the member of the organization of the organization how to prevent the milk from souring. Hence, Amul takes various initiatives to make the farmer or the producer understand how to provide service to the consumers with the only resource available with them i.e. milk a perishable one. The prominent display of picture states the message” NEVER FORGET YOUR CUSTOMER. IF YOU DON’T SUCCESS IS CERTAIN”
At the time Amul was formed, consumers had limited purchasing power, and modest consumption levels of milk and other dairy products. Being a co-operative organization Amul adopted a low-cost price strategy to make its products affordable and attractive to consumers by guaranteeing them value for money. Amul also introduced higher value products. Beginning with liquid milk, Amul enhanced the product mix through the progressive addition of higher value products while maintaining the desired growth in existing products.
Despite competition in the high value dairy product segments from firms such as Hindustan Lever, Nestle and Britannia, GCMMF ensures that the product mix and the sequence in which Amul introduces its products is consistent with the core philosophy of providing milk at a basic, affordable price.
GUJARAT CO-OPERATIVE MILK MARKETING FEDERATION(GCMMF)
Introduction:-
A group of farmers keen to free themselves from intermediaries and to gain access to markets and to utilize the benefit for their efforts came together in 1946 and formed the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation. The organization is situated in the village of Anand, the Kaira District Milk Cooperative Union (better known as Amul) which has now been expanded exponentially. GCMMF joined hands with other milk cooperatives, and the Gujarat network now covers 2.12 million farmers, 10,411 village level milk collection centers and fourteen district level plants (unions) all under the overall supervision of GCMMF. The GCMMF is been particularly been recognized for the beneficiary of the farmers. The organization mainly helped to transform the small farmers and contribute mainly for the development of the society. Markets, then and even today are primitive and poor in infrastructure. Amul and GCMMF acknowledged that development and growth could not be left to market forces and that proactive intervention was required. Two key requirements were identified that are:
- Sustained growth for the long term would depend on matching or maintained balance between supply and demand. It would need heavy investment in the simultaneous development of suppliers and consumers. Effective management of the network and commercial viability would require professional managers and technocrats.
- To implement their vision while retaining their focus on farmers, a hierarchical network of cooperatives was developed, this today forms the strong and healthy supply chain behind GCMMF’s endeavors. The vast and complex supply chain stretches from small suppliers to large fragmented markets.
Management of this network is made more complex by the fact that GCMMF is directly responsible only for a small part of the chain, with a number of third party players (distributors, retailers and logistics support providers) playing large roles. Managing this supply chain efficiently is critical as GCMMF's competitive position is driven by low consumer prices supported by a low cost system.
GCMMF: AN OVERVIEW
Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) is India's largest food products marketing organization. It is a state level apex body of milk cooperatives in Gujarat which aims to provide remunerative returns to the farmers and also serve the interest of consumers by providing quality products which are good value for money. The table mentioned drawn below makes us understand about the members in the GCMMF organization, village societies, milk handling capacity and various processes related with the collection capacity
Members: / 12 district cooperative milk producers' UnionNo. of Producer Members: / 2.5 million
No. of Village Societies: / 11,962
Total Milk handling capacity: / 9.91 million litres per day
Milk collection (Total - 2005-06): / 2.28 billion litres
Milk collection (Daily Average 2005-06): / 6.3 million litres
Milk Drying Capacity: / 511 metric Tons per day
Cattle feed manufacturing Capacity: / 2340 Mts per day
GCMMF :- CURRENT SCENARIO
GCMMF is India's largest food products marketing organization. It is a state level apex body of milk cooperatives in Gujarat, which aims to provide remunerative returns to the farmers and also serve the interest of consumers by providing quality products, which are good value for money. GCMMF markets and manages the Amul brand. From mid-1990's Amul has entered areas not related directly to its core business. Its entry into ice cream was regarded as successful due to the large market share it was able to capture within a short period of time - primarily due to the price differential and the brand name. It also entered the Pizza business, where the base and the recipes were made available to restaurant owners who could price it as low as 30 rupees per pizza when the other players were charging upwards of 100 rupees.
The sales turnover of the GCMMF from 1994-2006 is been represented below which helps to get a clear view of the earnings of the company, GCMMF is today nation's largest food company with an annual turnover exceeding Rs 2300 Crores.