India is the largest milk producing nation in the world with 140 million tonnes a year but no Indian dairy made it to the top 20 of a list drawn up by Dutch financial services company Rabobank.
Industry experts say the highly unorganised nature of the Indian dairy industry and cooperatives dominating the dairy scene explain it, reports BS.
The latest annual Rabobank survey of the world’s largest dairy companies names Swiss major Nestle as the top dairy firm in the world with a turnover of $27.8 billion in 2014, followed by French Lactalis ($19.5 billion) and Danone ($19.5 billion), while New Zealand’s Fonterra follows with $18.5 billion. At 20th place is Germany’s Muller with a $5.1 billion turnover in 2014.
RS Sodhi, managing director of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), the country’s largest dairy cooperative that owns the Amul brand, said if one went by how much milk it processed, the cooperative would be among the top 15 dairies in the world.
According to the International Farm Comparison Network, which has published a list of top 20 global dairies based on their milk intake in 2013, Amul ranked 15th, with a 0.6 per cent share of global production.