Demand for Amul's dairy products has not reduced during the lockdown, RS Sodhi, Managing Director of Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (Amul), said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

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He said with more people having to stay at home, they are consuming more, and preferring quality food from trusted brands. The higher household demand has to an extent, make up for the loss of demand from hotels, restaurants, and caterers.

Sodhi said demand for paneer has increased by 30-40 percent, and household demand for cheese has risen by 70-80 percent.

All products put together, Amul's sales to hotels, restaurants, and caterers have slowly risen to 10-15 percent of pre-COVID levels. But he said that it would take a while before this demand returned to normal.

Sodhi said in big cities, there was more demand for bigger packs, while in the rural areas, most people were buying small packs.

Sodhi said Amul was not facing any issues in procuring supplies, and that Amul had purchased Rs 1200 crore of extra milk during the lockdown. He said small and unorganised players were not buying milk during the lockdown, and to help the milk producers, Amul increased its milk purchase by 17 percent.

Milk procurement prices, which had crashed from Rs 35 per litre to Rs 22 per litre, has now risen to Rs 25-26 per litre.

Sodhi said atta (wheat flour) is just a pilot project for Amul at present. He said around 1200 tonnes of atta have been sold so far, and there is strong demand for it.

He said, in general, this was a good time for trusted brands to make consumers try new products. He said that during the lockdown, the bargaining power has shifted to brands from retailers.

First Published:Jun 18, 2020 11:42 AM IST