MILK PRODUCTS

“In the year 2001, we established a state-of-the-art dairy plant for the processing of milk. The next step was to reach our consumers through milk packets; this led to the birth of the Tamil Milk brand. Other dairy products like curd, butter, and ghee followed in due course,” says G Kannan, Founder & Managing Director, G K Dairy. What started off as a fledgling door-to-door milk delivery business in the 70s is now a modern dairy conglomerate. The one thing that has always set G K Dairy apart has been its unwavering commitment to quality and customer relations agriculture runs in the blood of G K Dairy’s founder and MD, G Kannan. Hailing from an agrarian family, he always dreamt of being a successful entrepreneur in the field he was exposed to growing up. Starting off small, but working hard, Kannan and his two brothers established a milk business by the name of G K Paal Pannai in 1973. Their small-scale business ran on a simple methodology: procure fresh cow milk from farmers in nearby areas and supply the same in milk cans to the surrounding villages.As time wore on and the demand for their milk rose, the company extended its supply to the towns of Kumbakonam and Mayiladuthurai. Speaking of their early days, K Thiyagarajan, Executive Director, G K Dairy, says, “At the inception, we used to supply milk to our customers twice every day, with them expecting the delivery at their doorstep first thing in the morning. Our suppliers were urged to adhere to customer expectations as far as possible. The advent of refrigeration in every house has changed things now.” Over the last decade and a half, the dairy sector has undergone many changes, moving the market towards greater industrialization. Up until the early 90s, dairy products consisted primarily of milk, curd, butter, and ghee. There is a paradigm shift being witnessed in urban and rural areas today. The consumption of processed milk products has increased significantly. The industry processes raw milk into an array of products such as butter, cheese, cream, yogurt, condensed milk, dried milk, ice cream, etc, and produces various by-products including buttermilk, whey, ghee, and skimmed milk. When they were starting out, spoilage during the course of marketing the milk to other districts was a big challenge. This led to the utilization of a Puff insulated vehicle for milk transportation and the training of all dealers