Milma’s one litre bottle ‘Cow Milk’ reaches market; priced at Rs 70 a bottle

Product from TRCMPU can reduce the use of plastic covers: Minister Smt J Chinchurani

Trivandrum / August 19, 2025

Thiruvananthapuram, August 19: Thiruvananthapuram Regional Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union (TRCMPU) of Milma today introduced to market its one litre ‘Cow Milk’ bottle, as part of its product diversification initiative aimed at increasing its market share and also targeting its Onam sales.

Minister for Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development Smt J Chinchurani launched the new product at a function at Hotel Dimora here on Tuesday. Finance Minister Shri K N Balagopal presided over the function.

Launch of Milma bottle milk will also help reduce the use of plastic cover, Smt Chinchurani said.

Priced at Rs. 70, ‘Milma Cow Milk’ will be initially available in sales outlets of Milma, its agencies and distributors in Thiruvananthapuram district. Subsequently, it will reach Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha districts as well.

Lauding the deep commitment of Milma and its regional milk producers’ unions to dairy farmers, the Minister noted that they pass the bulk of their profit to farmers through diverse welfare schemes.

While TRCMPU registered a record profit of Rs. 39 crores in the last financial year, 83 percent of it was given back to farmers by way of incentives, subsidies, cattle feed subsidies and low interest rates, from which the state’s dairy sector has benefited immensely, the Minister said.

Farmers are availing up to Rs. 2 lakhs for medical expenses and upto Rs. 7 lakhs in case of accidents fromKerala Dairy Farmers’ Welfare Fund Board. Also, farmers’ children are eligible for scholarships for higher education, said the Minister.

Referring to the cattle insurance scheme, the minister said an amount of Rs. 50 lakhs has been received from Central Government.

Around 95 per cent of dairy farmers now raise hybrid cows. At the same time, the Animal Husbandry Department has programmes to preserve indigenous breeds like ‘Vechur’ cows and ‘Kasaragod Kullan’ as their milk is of high nutritional value even through their yield is less, noted the Minister.

“We can’t allow import of milk products as that would adversely affect the dairy farmers of the state, pushing the dairy sector into a grave crisis resulting in revenue loss and mass unemployment. To counter this, we have to increase our market competence and capabilities by introducing new products that can compete with international brands. Milma with its innovative new products is leading the way in this regard”,Shri Balagopal saidin his presidential address.

He noted that 14 lakh farmers are being sustained by the state’s dairy sector. Stressing the importance of diversification, he said the milk powder factory opened at Moorkanad has the capacity to convert around 2 lakh litres of milk into milk powder. This was a strategic move by the government to utilize surplus milk production, much of which went wasted during the Covid period.

TRCMPU Chairman Smt Mani Vishwanadh delivered the welcome address while TRCMPU MD Mohammed Ansari C. A proposed the vote of thanks at the function.

Director, Dairy Development Department Smt Shalini Gopinath, TRCMPU Board Members Shri KR Mohanan Pillai, Shri T K Venugopal, Shri Ayaparamb Ramachandran, Shri TK Prathulachandran, and Smt. SinilaUnnikrishnan also spoke on the occasion.

Best performing dealers, agents, dairy units of the 2024-25 were also honoured at the event.

ENDS