Amul Dairy set to acquire manufacturing plant in Wisconsin

VADODARA/ ANAND: The Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited (KDCMPUL) – better known as Amul Dairy - is all set to acquire a dairy plant in Wisconsin, US.
With the acquisition, Amul will be first dairy union in India to start a dairy plant on foreign land. Dairy officials told TOI that the manufacturing facility has been identified and the acquisition modalities would be worked out soon.
Wisconsin is the top producer of cheese in America, accounting for almost 27 per cent of total cheese production. In 2015, Amul Dairy had entered into a tripartite agreement with a local manufacturer to make dairy products in Waterloo village in upstate New York, 350 miles from New Jersey.
Sources said Amul is now seriously exploring acquisition of a dairy plant in Wisconsin – the mid-western state of the US – to start its own operations.
Presently, through the tripartite agreement between Amul Dairy, the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (the apex body of all district dairy unions of Gujarat that markets brand Amul) and a local partner in the US, Amul is manufacturing three dairy products - paneer, ghee and shrikhand.
“We are looking at options to expand our US operations so that we can service the market there better. Presently, from Waterloo facility, we can at best service the eastern coast. The best option is to start our own operations there,” said a top official.
A team of eight board of directors from Amul Dairy is already in the US to scout for a dairy plant for acquisition.
“Once the directors return, we will be a position to understand how to go ahead with the acquisition,” said Amul Dairy’s chairman Ramsinh Parmar, who also heads GCMMF.
Amul’s total sales in the US including dairy products that are locally manufactured there and those exported from India currently stands at nearly Rs 60 crore.
“With the new plant that is directly owned by us, we can start manufacturing fresh paneer, ghee, cheese, butter and possibly even fresh milk,” said the official.
“Thanks to the large presence of diaspora, dairy products like ghee and paneer has already become mainstream products in the US and there is huge potential. So, manufacturing such dairy products locally, makes sense,” the official added.
A detailed report regarding the acquisition will be moved in the boards of Amul Dairy and GCMMF.