Home-grown dairy brand Amul's 'shrikhand', a sweet dish made of yogurt, is now available in the US.
A plant, owned by NRI businessman Piyush J Patel, already manufactures two Amul products ghee (butter oil) and paneer (cottage cheese) and shrikhand has now joined the list.
"There is a huge demand for Amul products in Indian restaurants in the US, which is home to over 3 million NRIs," he told PTI during a visit here.
"It is for the first time that shrikhand is being made in the USA. The manufacturing of shrikhand started about one month ago and I am happy with the response it is receiving," said Patel.
The facility has been set up as part of a tripartite agreement between Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMF), which owns and markets the Amul brand of milk products, Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Ltd (better known as Amul Dairy) and the NRI.
"I have made an investment of about USD 9 million for setting up the plant, spread over 3 acres and located at Waterloo village near New York," he said.
"New York is a milk surplus state and under this arrangement with AMUL and GCMMF, we will be able to produce and supply Amul products no only in the US but also export them to Canada and Europe," Patel said.
"We have acquired all the necessary licences, including approval from the US FDA, for our operations," he said.
Patel is a member of a group of 700 NRIs from the US who have come to Gujarat to campaign for BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
"We have come here on our own expense for canvassing for Modi because the country needs a strong leader like him. Modi has the capacity to make India strong and develop it by replicating the Gujarat model of development (at the national level)," Patel added.
