New Delhi: A gradual shift from loose milk to packaged and branded dairy products could significantly expand India’s formal dairy economy, according to Jayen Mehta, Managing Director of Amul.
Mehta said that even a 5% annual shift from loose to packaged and branded dairy could bring around 3.5 crore litres of milk per day into the formal sector. He compared the potential scale of this transition to effectively adding another Amul-sized business to the market every year.
The observation highlights the substantial growth opportunity that remains in India’s dairy market, where a considerable portion of milk and dairy consumption continues through the loose or informal channel.
Packaged Dairy Offers Major Growth Opportunity
The transition toward organised dairy can create opportunities across the entire value chain, including milk procurement, processing, packaging, cold-chain logistics and branded dairy products.
A shift toward packaged milk can also encourage greater participation from organised dairy cooperatives and private-sector processors. As more milk enters the formal sector, producers can potentially gain access to structured procurement networks and established quality-control systems.
For consumers, packaged dairy products offer greater consistency in areas such as processing, quality testing, packaging and traceability.
Amul’s Growth Opportunity
Mehta’s comments point to the scale of the opportunity available to established dairy brands as consumer preferences evolve. A sustained shift toward branded dairy could increase the addressable market for organised players while encouraging investment in processing and distribution infrastructure.
The comparison to adding “another Amul every year” illustrates the potential impact of even a relatively small annual shift in consumer behaviour.
Formalisation of India’s Dairy Sector
The move from loose to packaged dairy is also part of a broader formalisation trend in India’s food and dairy industries.
Greater formalisation can strengthen quality monitoring, improve supply-chain visibility and create more structured links between farmers, processors and consumers. It can also support the expansion of value-added dairy categories such as paneer, curd, cheese, flavoured milk and other packaged products.
With India’s large milk production base and rising demand for branded food products, the gradual formalisation of dairy could become an important driver of future industry growth.
Mehta’s comments therefore underline a broader opportunity: even modest changes in the share of milk moving through organised channels could translate into billions of litres of additional formal-sector demand over time.