MilkLane, a Bengaluru based dairy start-up, launches its first milk product for the retail consumers in the city. The company, which adheres to international quality standards, is promoting and differentiating the new product as 'Toxin and Antibiotic Safe' milk.
Its forays into the mass market consumer segment, after being active in the B2B segment delivering milk to industrial scale off-takers such as FMCG companies, industrial processors and milk product manufacturers.
The high-quality milk is available in packaging of 500 ml and at an attractive price point of Rs 35. With no added preservatives, the milk is processed with Ultra-High-Temperature (UHT) technology to provide safe and enhanced 90-days non-refrigerated shelf life.
Earlier test-marketed in Bengaluru, MilkLane continues to receive a good response from consumers and the retail stores. Within a very short span, the company has been able to expand its network with the product available on most e-commerce platforms such as Big Basket, BigBasket Daily, Grofers, Amazon Prime Now, Flipkart, Daily Ninja, Doodhwala and others. It has a presence in more than 450 retail stores in the city as well.
"Rise in urbanization has led to change in lifestyles and consumers are increasingly opting for healthier options. There is a huge market appetite for high-quality milk in India. With our entry into the retail segment, we have laid the foundation for our business's next growth pillar. The company has set an ambitious target of grabbing at least 10 per cent of market share in Bengaluru within a year", said Akshaya Kamath, Director at MilkLane.
"MilkLane aims to create awareness and set the benchmark for offering high-quality milk to the Indian consumer. In fact, every batch of milk undergoes multiple stringent quality checks. Contamination of milk with aflatoxin and misuse of antibiotics in dairy farms could have serious public health implications. So, we take extra care by working closely with dairy farmers, providing proprietary high-quality cattle feed to mitigate the risks of milk contamination arising out of poor-quality feeding", said Gaurav Haran, COO at MilkLane.
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Unlike typical central chilling/cold storage model followed by conventional milk companies, MilkLane works with a unique 'bulk milk chiller'(BMC) model which helps bring down the time taken for collection of milk thereby increases the shelf life and quality of the milk. Additionally, the BMC model is driving rural micro-entrepreneurs and providing livelihood opportunities to the youth.
MilkLane is associated with over 7,000 farmers spread across multiple states assisting them on the complete life cycle of the milk procurement process, providing veterinary supervision to enabling animal loans. MilkLane's integrated procurement system ensures transparency and better earnings for the dairy farmers, while helps maintain strong quality checks as well.
MilkLane does not dry the milk to reduce the cost of transporting and storing. Thereby the company promises high-quality cow milk with 3 per cent fat and great taste confirming to the international standards of milk quality.
What makes MilkLane truly good milk?
* Toxin Safe - Aflatoxins are toxins produced by fungi that grow on maize, brans, oilseed cakes normally fed to cows. MilkLane provides the farmers with high-quality feed ration free of toxins, which results in consumers getting toxin safe milk every day.
* Antibiotic Safe - It's the same with antibiotics. Cows fall sick and may require antibiotics to recover. These antibiotics flow through into the milk. However, MilkLane is careful enough to educate the farmer on disease prevention, to keep the cows healthy. If a sick cow requires medication to recover, the company has guidelines to keep them away from healthy milking cows. It conducts regular tests to always provide healthy and antibiotic safe milk for consumers.
* Healthy Milk is Good Milk - Free-range cows which are happy, healthy and loved will only yield the best quality milk. To experience the same, consumers can visit MilkLane's procurement facility and meet the farmers associated with the company. They can see where your milk comes from, how and where the cows live. What they eat and how they are cared for.
* Produced by entrepreneurs - MilkLane's farmers take pride in their business. They nurture healthy cows that give tasty milk. Due to purity, farmers find more demand for their products which in turn leads to better profits and them rearing more cows. This is not a cooperative. This is a business driven by their passion- A passion that navigates their journey towards producing only the best milk for consumers.
* Processed on location - MilkLane follows BMC (bulk milk cooler) model which helps bring down the time taken for collection of milk, which is collected directly from the farms and immediately chills it to 4 degrees Celsius in cooling chambers located in the village. This is important because bacteria start growing exponentially every 20 minutes and cooling helps suppress that. The cooling tankers are then taken to the pasteurization plant where the milk is immediately packed for storage. The company goes the extra mile and test every batch of our milk for impurities and toxins to ensure delivering 100 per cent safe milk every single day.
* UHT Milk - Ultra-heat treatment (UHT) involves processing and sterilizing milk at high temperatures (up to 135 degrees Celsius) to destroy bacteria and germs. The process enhances the shelf life of the milk, which can be stored at room temperature and need not to be boiled or even stored in a refrigerator before consumption. UHT process does not use any preservatives to improve shelf life but preserves all the nutrients in the milk that is then packaged in pre-sterilized tetra packs.
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