Mumbai | Dairy Dimension News | June 2025
Milk isn’t just a product—it’s a daily ritual rooted in trust, freshness, and timing, says Dev Prasad Panda, Team Leader at Mother Dairy and IRMA alumnus, in a viral LinkedIn post that is making waves across the Indian FMCG and dairy sectors.
Panda, who leads procurement and sales efforts for short shelf-life dairy categories, shared a concise but powerful framework titled “3 Golden Rules for Milk & Short Shelf-Life Dairy Products.” His message underscores how every litre matters and how success in dairy retail hinges not just on placement, but on precision.
In a fast-moving market where milk has a shelf life of just 1 to 3 days, Panda emphasises that stock and consumer pulse tracking are more critical than sheer volume. His three rules summarise real-world lessons from India’s dairy distribution frontlines:
Success doesn’t come from just being on the shelf, but from being there at the right time, with the correct quantity, and the right stock. “Empty shelves = lost sales = lost trust,” he writes, distilling a hard truth retailers understand all too well.
✅ 2. Stock Velocity > Stock Volume
“It’s not about how much you place, but how fast it moves,” Panda advises. He recommends focusing on rotation rates over shelf fill, nudging dairy marketers to prioritise daily delivery rhythms that build long-term confidence.
From monsoons to school holidays, festive spikes to early summers, customer behaviour changes quickly. Panda advises tracking these shifts to adjust supply chains, promotions, and delivery logistics in real-time.
Coinciding with Panda’s post, Mother Dairy has also unveiled its new Mumbai Metro branding campaign with the tagline “Aai Jaisi MUMB3AI,” celebrating the emotional role of dairy in the daily lives of Mumbai’s commuters.
The metro interiors now feature images of popular Mother Dairy SKUs, such as Classic Curd and Toned Milk, reinforcing the brand’s promise of purity, punctuality, and local love, mirroring Panda’s emphasis on habit and trust.
With India’s dairy sector serving over 1.3 billion people and 80 million farmer households, Panda’s insights serve as a sharp reminder: Milk is not just about cold chains and distribution—it’s about cultural connection, reliability, and timing.
As consumer preferences evolve and cities grow faster, the industry will need to adapt not only its products but also its philosophies. And as Panda puts it, “Milk is a habit. And habits are built on consistency, credibility, and care.”
