Lactalis meets Indian dairy farmers

The French dairy processor Lactalis, which is active in India under the name 'Sunfresh Agro Industries', is helping some Indian dairy farmers by raising the purchase prices of milk. This should allow dairy farmers in the country to keep their heads above water after hefty losses due to the corona crisis.

Many Indian dairy farmers have suffered greatly from the reduced demand for dairy products. As a result of the loss of demand, the average milk purchase price has fallen to less than €0,30 per liter of milk. Restaurants, airlines and other catering establishments are now allowed to partially resume work. "Now that the situation has improved somewhat, we see an opportunity to accommodate dairy farmers," says Rajiv Mitra, director of Sunfresh Agro (part of Lactalis).

Purchasing prices up
The dairy processor has decided to increase the purchase prices of milk with immediate effect to the equivalent of €0,34 per litre. It is good news for more than 50.000 Indian dairy farmers in the Ahmednagar, Pune and Nashik regions. Thus, the French dairy hopes that livestock farmers will be able to keep their heads above water this summer. “I expect the whole market to respond positively and others to follow our lead and offer a reasonable price to their farmers.”

It only concerns these regions, because this is the main producing region of milk powder and cheese. In particular, the demand for these products has increased again in recent times. According to Lactalis, the increase in the purchase price of milk will have no consequences for consumers for the time being.

Milk production continues to rise
Recent wrote We already know that India's milk supply continues to rise year after year. In the period between 2016 and 2019, milk production in the country grew by approximately 6,4% annually. The Indian government now wants to become a major exporting country and so it needs to invest in the dairy sector. The choice of Lactalis, or Sunfresh Agro Industries, to now support the income of livestock farmers will probably also be well received by the government.

Kimberly Baker

Kimberly Bakker is an all-round editor at Boerenbusiness. She also has an eye for the social media channels of Boerenbusiness.

k.baker @boerenbusiness. Nl

© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.