Amul gives packaging contract to US firm

Amul, the flagship brand of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), has been registered by GCMMF with dotCoop, a global top level domain (TLD) in which only co-operatives can register.

Amul has become the first Indian co-operative to register with the consortium and this has paved the way for Amul to ensure competitive global trading.

International firm TMA, which specialises in package designing, has been given a contract by the federation to redesign packing of all its products. The new package designs have already begun to roll out from the Amul facility at Anand.

"The process of registering with dotCoop began around five months ago. Amul is the first Indian brand to be registered with the TLD. TLD is a domain of co-operatives located all over the world. The registration will give Amul a distinct advantage in its global operations," said R S Sodhi, general manager, marketing, GCMMF.

Information technology has played a significant role in developing the Amul brand. The logistics behind co-ordinating collection of six million litres of milk per day from over 10,000 village co-operative societies, storing, processing and producing of milk products at 12 district dairy unions is very huge.

In 1996, Amul became one of the first organisations to have a website and the site is used to develop an intranet of Amul distributors as well as a cyber store for consumers.

Sodi said the new designs by the American package designing firm have already hit the markets.

"The new designs for packings of butter and chocolate have already been distributed. The new packaging designs for other products, including cheese, are at present being rolled out from the manufacturing units," Sodhi said.

Amul turned 40 last week. Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation, the parent body of the Amul brand, has adopted a new pack design for the brand, which includes attractive graphics, trendy colour schemes, new recipes, nutritional information and other elements.

Apart from giving a fresh appearance, GCMMF has also widened its current range by introducing new offers to its consumers.

The 40th anniversary celebrations of the brand will see GCMMF announcing a series of special offers for consumers. The new offers will be announced over the next three months.

A special education drive has been undertaken by Amul to educate consumers that the fat content in cheese is only 27 per cent, slightly higher than the fat content of 23 per cent in paneer. In fact, cheese has only one-third content of fat than butter and about one-fourth content of fat than ghee.

The new 200 gram cheese bar, priced at Rs 38, will be the most economical cheese pack in the entire 200 gram category, the company said.

With consumption of cheese slices increasing, especially among children, Amul has introduced a large family pack of 50 slices.

For housewives who use cheese in cooking, GCMMF has introduced a 400 gram block pack, priced at Rs 70.

Apart from this, traditional tin packed cheese is available in two variants priced at Rs 76 and 81, the company said.