High-fat or vitamin-enriched milk? Consumers want green, but co-op Aavin pushes purple

CHENNAI: You won’t believe it, but it’s true. People choose fat over vitamins. That’s what you have to vouch for, at least if we go by the demand for high-fat Aavin milk packs rather than the low-fat ones.

The Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation which sells its milk products under various brand names seems to be failing in its efforts to push the vitamin-rich milk pack, Aavin Delite, among the customers.

A consumer from Anna Nagar rues the poor availability of high-fat green packs in stores. “I always prefer the Green Magic (having 4.5 grams of fat per litre). But when I go to the stores, the green packs are available less in number. But the low-fat Delite (3.5 grams of fat per litre) is available freely,” says Vel Raj.

Representatives of the milk producers association claim that the milk co-operative is trying to push the sales of its Delite variant of milk packets which comes in purple cover promising added vitamin A and Vitamin D, to earn more profits. However, its efforts of targeting health-conscious consumers seem to have failed if we go by the views of the consumers as the cooperative earns a bad name for not supplying their favourite Green Magic in adequate numbers. In the worst case, sales are lost to private players as consumers turn to other brands if their green pack is unavailable in stores, say sources.

I wonder why the green milk packets which were used for many years aren’t available freely now, asks S Saravanan, a consumer of Aavin for decades. “Currently green packs are unavailable in most of the stores, forcing us to buy Delite packets. The green packets were thicker and tasted better than Delite,” says the consumer.

Delite milk, the purple-coloured packet, apparently pushed on the retailers don’t find enough takers, presumably because people prefer milk with high-fat content. Sources in Aavin confirm this trend. Delite milk packs were introduced by Aavin in December 2023, claiming to be more organic or very close to original cow milk, but with lesser fat content. As it is generally believed that vitamin deficiency is high among the public in the State, the milk variant was introduced, targeting health-conscious consumers, informed sources claim.

However, consumers demand Green Magic milk more, which has more fat (4.5 grams fat per litre) and tastes better than Delite (3.5 grams fat per litre), even though both are priced at Rs 44.

“Green Magic which offers standardised milk is sold at Rs 44 per litre and has 4.5 per cent fat and 8.5 per cent Solids Not Fat (SNF), was a loss-making brand for the cooperative society. So they reduced the fat content to 3.5 per cent, and at the same price, they are pushing Delite which has poor patronage from the public,” said SA Ponnusamy, founder and president of the Tamil Nadu Milk Dealers Employees Association. He also alleged that Aaavin is now pushing Delite variant against the popular Green Magic.

“Aavin supplies stocks of other products only if Delite is purchased. As the fat content of the milk is reduced, Aavin earns a profit of Rs 8 per litre as per the market price. The same milk that was sold in green covers is now sold in purple covers with less fat without reducing the rate,” Ponnusamy explains.

This seems to be a marketing strategy to reduce losses or increase profit. This assumes significance as there was stiff opposition when fat content was reduced in green packs some time back. If Aavin succeeds in promoting the Delite variant, they can escape public censure by reducing fat content of Delite packs at their will and offer Green Magic at lower numbers, thus reducing losses, say members of milk sellers association.

The supply of Green Magic, which had better demand than Delite, has been almost stopped in more than 90 per cent of districts across the State, sources point out. Green packets are available only in the State capital and that too in fewer shops, consumers say.

Sources from an Aavin outlet in Nungambakkam said that 360 packets of Delite milk are sold per day, and there are no green packets sold in the outlet.

An official attached to the Aavin denied the charges and said Delite has turned out to be a popular brand of late. “Two lakh litres of Delite milk packets are sold in the Chennai region and five lakh litres of the milk brand is sold in the rest of Tamil Nadu per day. The milk has a low-fat content and offers a healthier choice, so it has reached a larger audience in a very short period of time,” the official says.