Amul eyes 15 pc growth in turnover this fiscal despite COVID-19 from over Rs 38K cr in FY'20

New Delhi, Apr 21 () GCMMF, which markets dairy products under Amul brand, expects its turnover to grow 15 per cent this fiscal year from Rs 38,550 crore in 2019-20 despite economic slowdown caused by the nationwide lockdown to control coronavirus outbreak.The household consumption of milk and other dairy products is expected to rise and will compensate any temporary loss of sales caused by closure of hotels, restaurants and cafeterias (HoReCA segment) during the ongoing lockdown period, said R S Sodhi, the managing director of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF)."COVID-19 will not have any impact on demand of the food products. Our sales in value terms during this month are at par with the same month last year. The demand of some products has come down but at the same time sales of many products have risen," Sodhi told in an interview. Asked about the outlook for this fiscal year, he said: "We expect our turnover to grow by 15 per cent."GCMMF clocked 17 per cent growth in its turnover at Rs 38,550 crore during the 2019-20 fiscal year.On the current situation of its milk operation, Sodhi said, "Gradually things are settling down."Regarding sales, he said the demand for fresh milk has declined by 8 per cent as hotels and restaurants are closed. "HoReCa segment contributes 12-15 per cent of the total demand. But, fall is less as household consumption of fresh milk and butter milk has increased."Sodhi noted that sales of butter, ghee, paneer, cheese and milk powder have gone up in the range of 20-35 per cent as people are consuming more. However, he pointed out the demand of ice-cream has fallen sharply by 85 per cent, while sales of cream and mozzarella cheese are down by 70 per cent and 50 per cent, respectively. Sodhi said the company has diverted the idle supply chain of ice-cream into distribution of other dairy products."Our milk procurement from farmers has increased by 15 per cent as unorganised players are not buying", he said. The surplus milk is being processed to manufacture skimmed milk powder (SMP), whose price has crashed to Rs 250 per kg from Rs 320 before lockdown, he said. "Our capital is getting blocked because of higher milk procurement. But we need to support farmers during this period," Sodhi said. The GCMMF has not increased or decreased the milk procurement rates, he said, but added that prices have fallen by Rs 7-10 per litres across various states.Sodhi said the fall in procurement rate is more in states like Uttar Pradesh where there are no cooperatives in the dairy business. Amul sells 140 lakh litre milk per day mainly in Gujarat, Delhi-NCR, Uttar Pradesh. Its dairy products are sold across the country. It has milk processing plants in many states. MJH ANS SHWSHW