The Minister for Dairy Development, Milk Co-operatives in Kerala, J Chinchurani, stated that Nandini has decided to halt its expansion strategy in the state amid a controversy over the Karnataka dairy brand building a few units in Kerala.
“The CEO of Nandini milk contacted and informed me they have decided to stop opening Nandini outlets in Kerala. The National Diary Development board has intervened in the issue,” she said.
Kerala intends to visit Karnataka to discuss the matter with officials there, including the chairman and MD of Milma (Kerala). The secretary of the Kerala government has also written a letter to the Centre pleading for them to get involved.
The minister stated that Milma and Nandini had both been operating under cooperative conditions, “The issue has been frozen temporarily. And because of that, when they entered into our state, we objected. When Amul came to Karnataka, they objected to it. Likewise, when Nandini entered Kerala, we too objected.”
The Kerala government had previously complained to the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) about Nandini expanding her business there. Nandini did not obtain permission to open stores in the state, according to milk cooperative minister Chinchurani, who also asked NDDB to investigate into the situation.
Since quite some time, Milma, the milk brand for Kerala owned by the Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation, has opposed Nandini’s opening of stores there.
Milma Chairman KS Mani referred to the Amul vs. Nandini controversy as unethical. “The move of Amul (Gujarat Milk Co-operative Federation) to promote its staple products in Karnataka has been met with strong resistance from the stake-holders in that state. But Karnataka Milk Marketing Federation recently opened its outlets in parts of Kerala to sell its Nandini brand of milk and other products. How could this be justified? Whoever does this, it is a highly unethical practice which defeats the very purpose of India’s dairy movement and harms the interests of the farmers,” he pointed out.
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