Punjab’s own Verka is now trying to expand its footprint in Delhi while Amul from Gujarat is finding a market in Punjab.
Amul, the utterly butterly delicious girl who always wears polka dot red frock and same ribbon on her head also has Punjabi attire salwar-kameez. With two hands folded in front of her chest, this Amul ad mascot greets Punjabis with “Sat Sri Akal” and asks them: “Duddh pee lavo nahi taan vadde kivey hovoge. On the other hand is Punjab’s homegrown brand, Verka, the leader in the region in sale of fresh packet milk and other dairy products, which is now trying to explore markets beyond Punjab, especially Delhi.
There is a big change going on as far as Verka Marketing approach goes-Verka Advertisement has even been translated into Hindi and English.This means, among others,”Punjab ka asli doodh ab Dilli mein bhi”.The state of Punjab, where the highest level of per-capita milk is available in the world, is witnessing a unique shift in the dairy brands that are marketing.
The dairy company Verka, which is a government-owned company storing M1LKFED, started its operation in the national capital – Delhi – for the first time, while the dairy company Amul, which is owned by Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF) started its new business model in Punjab which was a new experience for the company.
Verka’s and Amul’s 500 grams of milk packet are both priced at Rs 31 in their home state, but Amul’s 400 gram curd is priced at Rs 35 against Rs 32, that is the price of Verka’s in the same pack.
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann had announced that Verka will increase its milk supply to Delhi from 30,000 litres to 2 lakh litres. The reason is that the same ruling party Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) who makes the process easier for Verka in the capital.Kamal Kumar Garg, the managing director of MILKFED, informed that Verka is soon to be expanded to new states, other than Punjab. “We have been given a huge demand of 15 lakh liters of rose lassi by the Army and other paramilitary forces we will be supplying to. We are present in other states as well such as J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Western UP, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Assam etc.”
We are also in the process of our brand Verka to custom manufacture wheat-based cookies and rusk. We have submitted a request to the Punjab government and asked them to further make a request to the Delhi government to establish 100 milk booths in Delhi at different locations,” he noted while mentioning that Verka recently carried out a bus advertisement campaign in Delhi and also struck a partnership with Punjab Kings XI for IPL 2024.English and Hindi language advertisements Verka also had its share of perplexity as Punjabi language activists complained it has stopped promoting its mother tongue.
“Coming to Amul, in one way or another they need to bring in more transparency and strengthen its procurement chain too. For example, when a farmer sells his dairy to the cooperative, its representatives never count the butterfat in front of the farmer, they do this in the lab. Verka on the other hand always calculate it on the spot.
Still, A period later we can also determine that Amul will steal some yesterday’s market from Verka. The MILKFED first thing to fill is the FMBC post and the other thing is that there needs to be the original perspective in the marketing team. It is imperative that the state’s cooperative is strong enough to support these local farmers.
