Making strides in dairy industry Premium

Migration of farmers to urban areas and urbanisation have become major challenges for the dairy sector over the years, says S.V. Ramana, MD of Visakha Dairy

Since its inception in 1977 as a small dairy plant, Visakha Dairy has come a long way in becoming an industry leader and a household name, especially in the three North Andhra Districts.

It has grown leaps and bounds over the years from milk procurement of about 50,000 litres a day to 8 lakh litres, per day. From a customer base catering only to the employees in the Government sector, today, it has spread its reach to many states.

While its prominent presence is in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh, its premium products such as butter, tetra pack and good milk brands can be found in the remote corners of north and north-eastern India.

From a farmer base of about a few thousand, today Visakha Dairy has a milk farmer base of over 3 lakhs only from the erstwhile three districts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam.

The growth of the dairy was envisaged by its chairman Adari Tulasi Rao. Today, Visakha Dairy has over 1,600 permanent employees and over 100 chilling units spread across the three districts, with an average capacity of 10,000 litres, per unit.

Being a profitable entity in the cooperative sector is no easy task. Drawing inspiration from Verghese Kurien, the father of the white revolution in India and Chairman of Amul, Tulasi Rao since the beginning had focussed on developing the milk farmer base.

The farmer base has always been our strength and this has given us the edge over the others, said S.V. Ramana, Managing Director of Visakha Dairy.