Chennai: Believe it or not, it’s true: people choose fat over vitamins. At least, judging by the demand for high-fat Aavin milk cartons over low-fat ones, this is what you have to guarantee.
The Tamil Nadu State Cooperative Milk Producers Federation, which sells dairy products under various brand names, appears to have failed in its efforts to promote its vitamin-rich milk carton ‘Abin Delight’ to customers.
Consumers in Anna Nagar lament the limited availability of high-fat green packs in stores: “I have always preferred Green Magic (4.5 grams of fat per litre), but when I go to the stores, the stock of Green Packs is low. However, low-fat Delite (3.5 grams of fat per litre) is easily available,” says Bel Raj.
Representatives of milk producers’ associations claim that milk cooperatives are boosting sales of purple-covered Delight milk cartons, which claim to contain added vitamins A and D, to boost profits. But consumer feedback suggests that the effort to target health-conscious consumers is failing, as the cooperative has gained notoriety for not supplying enough of consumers’ favorite Green Magic. In the worst case scenario, without Green Packs on shelves, consumers will turn to other brands, losing sales to private companies, sources say.
S. Saravanan, a decades-long Aavin’s customer, wonders why the long-used green milk carton is no longer freely available. “The green carton is now unavailable in most shops and we are forced to buy the Delight carton, which is thicker and tastes better than Delight,” the consumer says.
Delight Milk in a purple pack is being touted in retail outlets but has not found enough takers, possibly as people prefer higher fat milk. Irvine sources confirm the trend. Delight Milk pack will be introduced by Irvine in December 2023 and claims to be more organic and very close to the original taste of cow’s milk but with less fat. There is a popular belief that vitamin deficiency is high among the state’s residents, hence this milk variant has been introduced to target health-conscious consumers, sources claim.
However, consumers are more in favor of Green Magic Milk, which has more fat (4.5 grams of fat per litre) and tastes better than Delight (3.5 grams of fat per litre), despite both being priced at Rs 44.
“Green Magic, priced at Rs 44 a litre and standardised with 4.5 per cent fat and 8.5 per cent solids non-fat (SNF), was a loss-making brand for the cooperative. So they have reduced the fat to 3.5 per cent and are marketing Delite, at the same price, which has less public acceptance,” said SA Ponnusamy, founder president, Tamil Nadu Milk Marketing Employees Association. He also alleged that Aavin is now marketing a Delite derivative to rival the popular Green Magic.
“Abin supplies stock of other products only if Delite is purchased. If the fat content of milk is reduced, Abin earns a profit of Rs 8 per litre as per the market price. The same milk which was sold in green cover is now sold in purple cover which has reduced fat content, but the price does not come down,” explains Ponnusamy.
This appears to be a marketing ploy to cut losses and increase profits. This is significant as there was fierce opposition when Irvine reduced the fat content of its Green packs some time ago. If Irvine is successful in marketing its Delight derivatives, it can freely reduce the fat content of Delight packs to avoid public outcry and offer Green Magic at a lower level and cut losses, say members of the Milk Marketers Association.
Supplies of Green Magic, which was in higher demand than DeLite, have almost come to a halt in over 90 percent of districts in the state, sources said. Green packs are available only in the state capital and there are few outlets to sell them, consumers said.
Sources at Aavin outlet in Nungambakkam said 360 packets of Delight Milk are sold a day and the green packets are not sold at the outlet.
Aavin’s officials denied the charges and said Delight has become a popular brand in recent times. “200,000 litres of Delight milk packets are sold a day in the Chennai region and 500,000 litres in other parts of Tamil Nadu. As this milk offers a low-fat and healthy option, it has reached a larger consumer base in a very short period of time,” the official said.
