Amul

Amul is an Indian st at e government cooperat ive under t he ownership of Gujarat Cooperat ive Milk
Market ing Federat ion, Minist ry of Cooperat ion, Government of Gujarat based at Anand in
Gujarat .[3]
Formed in 1946,[4] it is a cooperat ive brand managed by t he Gujarat Cooperat ive Milk
Market ing Federat ion Lt d. (GCMMF), which t oday is joint ly cont rolled by 36 lakh (3.6 million) milk
producers in Gujarat , and t he apex body of 13 dist rict milk unions, spread across 13,000 villages
of Gujarat .[5]
Amul spurred India's Whit e Revolut ion, which made t he count ry t he world's largest
producer of milk and milk product s.[6]
 Amul

Type State Government Cooperative

Industry Food processing

FMCG

Founded 1946

Founder Tribhuvandas Patel

Headquarters Anand, Gujarat, India

Area served Worldwide

Key people Rupinder Singh Sodhi

(Managing Director)[1]

Products Dairy

Revenue ₹386 billion (US$5.1 billion)[2] (2020)

Owner Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation,

Ministry of Cooperation, Government of Gujarat

Number of employees 1,000 (Marketing Arm)

3.6 million (3.6 million) (Milk producing

members)[2]

Divisions Banas Dairy

Dudhsagar Dairy

Website amul.com (https://amul.com/)

amuldairy.com (http://www.amuldairy.com/)

Kaira Union int roduced t he brand “Amul” for market ing it s product range. The word “Amul” is
derived from Sanskrit word ‘Amulya’ which means ‘priceless’ or precious, a name proposed by t hen
founding leader of Agricult ure College, Maganbhai Pat el.[7]
Tribhuvandas Kishibhai Pat el under t he guidance of Sardar Vallabhbhai Pat el became t he
founding chairman of t he organizat ion and led it unt il his ret irement in t he 70s. He hired Verghese
Kurien in 1949 and convinced him t o st ay and help wit h t he mission.[8][9] Under t he chairmanship of
Tribhuvandas, Kurien was init ially t he general manager and helped guide t he t echnical and
market ing effort s of Amul. Kurien was t he chairman of Amul briefly aft er Tribhuvandas Kishibhai
Pat el died in 1994. Kurien, founder-chairman of t he GCMMF for more t han 30 years (1973–2006),
is credit ed wit h t he success of Amul's market ing.[10]

Amul has vent ured int o overseas market s.[11]

History

The Amul trinity: Verghese Kurien, Shri Tribhuvandas Kishibhai Patel, and Harichand Megha Dalaya
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, visits India and Amul with Harichand Megha Dalaya, in December 1980

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, visits India and Amul with Harichand Megha Dalaya, in December 1980

Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurating the new Amul Milk Powder Plant, in Gandhinagar, Gujarat on November 28, 2021.
Amul cooperat ive was regist ered on 19 December 1946, as a response t o t he exploit at ion of
marginal milk producers by t raders and agent s in small cit ies. The prices of milk were arbit rarily
det ermined at t he t ime. The government had given Polson an effect ive monopoly in milk
collect ion from Kaira and it s subsequent supply t o Mumbai.[12][13]

Angered by t he unfair t rade pract ices, t he farmers of Kaira approached Sardar Vallabhbhai Pat el
under t he leadership of local farmer leader Tribhuvandas K. Pat el. He advised t hem t o form a
cooperat ive (Kaira Dist rict Co-operat ive Milk Producers' Union) and supply milk direct ly t o t he
Bombay Milk Scheme inst ead of Polson (who did t he same but gave t hem low prices).[14] He
sent Morarji Desai t o organise t he farmers. In 1946, t he milk farmers of t he area went on a st rike
which led t o t he set t ing up of t he cooperat ive t o collect and process milk.[13] Milk collect ion
was decent ralized, as most producers were marginal farmers who could deliver, at most , 1–2
lit ers of milk per day. Cooperat ives were formed for each village, t oo.[15] By June 1948, t he
KDCMPUL had st art ed past eurising milk for t he Bombay Milk Scheme. Then-Prime Minist er Lal
Bahadur Shast ri visit ed Anand t o inaugurat e Amul's cat t le feed fact ory. On 31 Oct ober 1964, and
spent a night in village and spoke t o farmers about t heir cooperat ive and aft er ret urning t o Delhi
he set in mot ion t he creat ion of an organizat ion, t he Nat ional Dairy Development Board (NDDB),
t o replicat e t he Kaira cooperat ive in ot her part s of India.[16] Under t he selfless leadership of
Tribhuvandas Pat el, in 1973, Amul celebrat ed it s 25t h Anniversary (ht t p://saumilresearch.org/Pag
es/Gujarat Calling.ht ml) wit h Morarji Desai, Maniben Pat el and Verghese Kurien.[4]

Under t he leadership of Tribhuvandas Pat el, t he cooperat ive was furt her developed t hrough t he
effort s of Dr. Verghese Kurien[4] and H. M. Dalaya. Dalaya's innovat ion of making skim milk powder
from buffalo milk was a t echnological breakt hrough t hat revolut ionized India's organized dairy
indust ry.[17]

Wit h Kurien's help, t he process was expanded on a commercial scale [4] which led t o t he first
modern dairy of t he cooperat ive at Anand. This cooperat ive would go on t o compet e against
est ablished players in t he market .[18]

The Amul plant at Anand, Gujarat showing the milk silos

The t rio's (T. K. Pat el, Kurien and Dalaya's) success at t he cooperat ive's dairy soon spread t o
Anand's neighborhood in Gujarat . Wit hin a short span, five unions in ot her dist rict s – Mehsana,
Banaskant ha, Baroda, Sabarkant ha and Surat – were set up, following t he approach somet imes
described as t he Anand pat t ern.[13]

In 1970, it spearheaded t he "Whit e Revolut ion" of India. To combine forces and expand t he
market while saving on advert ising and avoid compet ing against each ot her, t he Gujarat Co-
operat ive Milk Market ing Federat ion Lt d., an apex market ing body of t hese dist rict cooperat ives,
was set up in 1973. The Kaira Union, which had t he brand name Amul wit h it since 1955,
t ransferred it t o GCMMF.[19]

In 1999, it was awarded t he "Best of all" Rajiv Gandhi Nat ional Qualit y Award.[20]

Technological development s at Amul have subsequent ly spread t o ot her part s of India.

The GCMMF is t he largest food product s market ing organisat ion in India. It is t he apex
organisat ion of t he dairy cooperat ives of Gujarat . It is t he exclusive market ing organisat ion for
product s under t he brand name of Amul and Sagar.
Over t he last five and a half decades, dairy
cooperat ives in Gujarat have creat ed an economic net work t hat links more t han 3.1 million (3.1 
million) village milk product s wit h crores of consumers in India. In 2007, Gujarat Cooperat ive Milk
Market ing Federat ion Lt d., crossed US$ one Billion in it s sales t urnover and ent ered t he elit e club
of food companies having t his dist inct ion from India.[21] In one more major achievement , t he dairy
cooperat ives of Gujarat under t he GCMMF fold crossed milk procurement of 10 million kgs. per
day mark on 27 December 2007, which is t he highest ever milk procurement achieved by any
dairy net work in India, be it privat e or cooperat ive and t he ent ire quant it y of milk received was
accept ed wit hout any milk holidays and was processed successfully int o milk and ot her milk
product s.[21]

On 30 Sept ember 2018, Prime Minist er Narendra Modi inaugurat ed Amul's chocolat e plant in
Mogar, Anand near t heir headquart ers. The new plant has been built wit h an increased capacit y of
1,000 t onnes per mont h against t he earlier 250 t onnes a mont h capacit y. GCMMF has invest ed
around ₹3 billion for t his project . It is a fully aut omat ed product ion fact ory wit h minimal human
int ervent ion.[22]

UHT products and impact

Over t he years, Amul has been wit nessing growt h in t his port folio, wit h t he segment growing at
53%. Long-life UHT product s for urban populat ions, like Amul Taaza, which are packed in Tet ra
Pak cart ons undergo UHT t reat ment t o remove all harmful micro-organisms while ret aining t he
nut rit ion in t he milk. Amul sells around 400,000–500,000 lit ers of UHT milk and ot her value-added
product s per day and forecast s t his demand t o cont inue growing at 25%. The UHT product s
have enabled Amul t o posit ion it self as t he market leader in packaged milk segment wit hout t he
need of maint aining cold supply chains.[23] In t he year 2021, Amul celebrat ed 75 years in
exist ence and is current ly India's biggest FMCG or Food organizat ion wit h an Annual t urnover
exceeding Rs 500 billion ($7 billion).[4]

Advertising

In 1966, Amul hired Sylvest er da Cunha, t he managing direct or of an advert ising agency as t o
design an ad campaign for Amul But t er. DaCunha designed a campaign as series of hoardings wit h
t opical ads, relat ing t o day-t o-day issues.[24] It was popular and earned a Guinness World Record
for t he longest -running ad campaign in t he world. In t he 1980s, cart oon art ist Kumar Morey and
script writ er Bharat Dabholkar had been involved wit h sket ching t he Amul ads; t he lat t er reject ed
t he t rend of using celebrit ies in advert isement campaigns. Dabholkar credit ed chairman Verghese
Kurien wit h creat ing a free at mosphere t hat fost ered t he development of t he ads.[25]

Despit e encount ering polit ical pressure on several occasions, DaCunha's agency has made it a
policy of not backing down. Some of t he more cont roversial Amul ads include one comment ing
on t he Naxalit e uprising in West Bengal, on t he Indian Airlines employees st rike, and one depict ing
t he Amul girl wearing a Gandhi cap.

In 2013, Amul t weet ed a pict ure feat uring t he Amul but t er girl, implying t hat "freedom of choice"
died in 2013, in opposit ion t o t he Supreme Court of India overruling t he judgment of t he Delhi
High Court and criminalising homosexualit y again.[26]

On 17 Oct ober 2016, Amul but t er girl celebrat ed 50 years since she first appeared in t he t opical
ad t it led "Thoroughbread". The ad showed a jockey holding a slice of bread during t he horse race
season in 1966. The impish Amul girl had appeared for t he first t ime even before t hat , wit h
Eust ace Fernandez showed her offering bedt ime prayers wit h a wink and a lick of lips, saying
"Give us t his day our daily bread: wit h Amul but t er".[27]

Their Ad on Aagey Badhta Hai India had an excellent response from t he audience. It basically
spoke about how t heir Milk is seen as a household product wit h cat chy t une associat ed t o it . It
has over 39 lakh (~4 million) views on YouTube.[28]

In February 2020, Amul post ed a pict ure of t he Amul girl t reat ing Joaquin Phoenix wit h but t er
aft er his academy award win for his role in t he 2019 film, Joker.[29] Since Phoenix is a vegan, Amul
faced crit icism and t rolls from vegans in India and from PETA for t he poor knowledge of his
vegan act ivism and life.

Amul post ed a pict ure of it s mascot But t er Girl celebrat ing wit h PV Sindhu for winning t he
bronze medal in Tokyo Olympics in August 2021.[30]

In popular culture

The est ablishment of Amul is known as t he Whit e Revolut ion.

The Whit e Revolut ion inspired t he not able Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal t o base his film
Manthan (1976) on it . The film was financed by over five lakh (half a million) rural farmers in
Gujarat who cont ribut ed ₹2 each t o it s budget . Upon it s release, t hese farmers went in
t ruckloads t o wat ch 't heir' film, making it a commercial success.[31][32] Manthan won t he Nat ional
Film Award for Best Feat ure Film in Hindi during t he 24t h Nat ional Film Awards
in 1977.

Recognition

In August 2019, Amul became t he first Indian dairy company t o ent er Rabobank's Global Top 20
Dairy Companies list .[33]

See also

Aavin is a st at ut ory corporat ion and t he t rademark of Tamil Nadu Co-operat ive Milk Producers'
Federat ion Limit ed. Aavin procures milk, processes it and sells milk and milk product s t o
consumers.

Anikspray, a compet it ive brand developed by Lipt on and HLL, and lat er sold t o ot her
companies

References

1. "Shri Amit Vyas – NDDB Foundation for Nutrition" (https://www.nfn.org.in/shri-rs-sodhi) .

 www.nfn.org.in. Retrieved 30 March 2019.

2. "Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (AMUL) achieves turnover of Rs. 52000 crore 7billion
croreswith 17% growth" (https://www.amul.com/files/pdf/Final_English-GCMMF_sales_Turnover-2019-20
20_1st_April_2020.pdf) (PDF). Amul. Retrieved 1 April 2020.

3. Alexander Fraser Laidlaw. Cooperatives and the Poor. A development study prepared for the
International Cooperative Alliance and the Canadian International Development Agency, 1977.

4. "Amul remembers Tribhuvandas on his birth anniversary" (https://www.indiancooperative.com/co-op-ne

ws-snippets/amul-remembers-tribhuvandas-on-his-birth-anniversary/) . Indian Cooperative. 23
October 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2021.

5. The Amul Story – General Management Review (http://www.etgmr.com/GMRjan-mar04/art7.html)

Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20051204084731/http://www.etgmr.com/GMRjan-mar04/art
7.html) 4 December 2005 at the Wayback Machine

6. indiadairy.com (http://www.indiadairy.com/ind_world_number_one_milk_producer.html) .
indiadairy.com. Retrieved on 29 November 2015.

7. DAMODARAN, HARISH (13 September 2012). "The Amul trinity" (https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/

news/variety/the-amul-trinity/article23030592.ece) . thehindubusinessline.com. Retrieved 13 January
2021. "The original credit goes to Dalaya — something that Kurien always acknowledged, and reiterated
when the former passed away on September 12, 2004. While Patel dealt with the farmers, and Dalaya
took charge of the technical and internal affairs of the dairy, “my role was only in marketing, external
affairs and handling politicians, bureaucrats and other establishment people," the ever-frank Kurien
admitted at the time. In Anand, it was said that if Gupta was the Father of Amul, Kurien was the Son,
and Dalaya the Holy Ghost."

8. Heredia, Ruth (1997). The Amul India Story (https://books.google.com/books?id=TYEkjpYkHrMC&pg=

PA65) . New Delhi: Tata Mc-Graw Hill. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-07-463160-7.

9. Misra, Udit (10 September 2012). "V. Kurien: India's White Knight" (http://forbesindia.com/article/specia
l/v-kurien-indias-white-knight/33719/2) . Forbes India. Retrieved 11 September 2012.

10. Dasgupta, Manas (9 September 2012). "Kurien strode like a titan across the bureaucratic barriers and
obstacles" (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3877337.ece) . The Hindu. Chennai, India.
Retrieved 13 September 2012.

11. Srinivas, Nidhi Nath. "Amul's world's biggest vegetarian cheese brand exports cheese to the US, Middle
East, Singapore, Hong Kong with sales estimated to touch 600 tonne in 2005" (https://economictimes.i
ndiatimes.com/amuls-worlds-biggest-vegetarian-cheese-brand/articleshow/1288927.cms) . The
Economic Times. Retrieved 1 July 2020.

12. George, Shanti (1985). Operation flood: an appraisal of current Indian pairy policy. Delhi: Oxford
University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-561679-8.
13. Heredia, Ruth (1997). The Amul India story. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill.

14. Suhrud, Tridip (8 April 2006). "The magic of manthan" (https://web.archive.org/web/20061111211535/

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main17.asp?filename=op040806the_magic.asp) . Tehelka. Archived
from the original (http://www.tehelka.com/story_main17.asp?filename=op040806the_magic.asp) on
11 November 2006. Retrieved 2 February 2011.

15. Thapar, Romila (2001). "Seminar, Issues 497–508". Seminar.

16. Gupta, Sharad. "Remembering Verghese Kurien – India's first milkman" (https://www.thehindubusinessli
ne.com/news/variety/remembering-verghese-kurien-indias-first-milkman/article30084051.ece) .
businessline. Retrieved 10 March 2021.

17. Kurien, Verghese (2007). "India' s Milk Revolution: Investing in Rural Producer Organizations" (https://bo
oks.google.com/books?id=IV9m8gF6XDcC&pg=PA47) . In Narayan, Deepa; Glinskaya, Elena (eds.).
Ending Poverty in South Asia: Ideas that work. Washington D.C., USA: (The World Bank). p. 47.
ISBN 978-0-8213-6876-3. Retrieved 13 January 2021. "If there was one technological breakthrough that
revolutionized India's organized dairy industry, it was the making of skim milk powder out of buffalo
milk. The man who made this possible and who had the foresight to defy the prevailing technical
wisdom was H. M. Dalaya."

18. "Economic and political weekly, Volume 6, Part 4". Economic and Political Weekly. 6. 1971.

19. The Cheese Industry in India. Chillibreeze.

20. Shrawan (29 May 2013). "Annex iv: list of award winners of Rajiv Gandhi national quality awards" (htt
p://www.bis.org.in/other/rgnqa_win_12.pdf) (PDF). bis.org.in. New Delhi: Bureau of Indian Standards.
Retrieved 15 May 2014.

21. "GCMMF Milk Procurement Crosses 100 Lakh Kgs Per Day" (https://www.businesswireindia.com/gcmmf
-milk-procurement-crosses-100-lakh-kgs-per-day-14686.html) . www.businesswireindia.com. 28
December 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2021.

22. Pathak, Maulik (30 September 2018). "PM Modi inaugurates LNG terminal, chocolate factory in Gujarat"
(https://www.livemint.com/Politics/i7F7v2tZKO48EFENkXALgI/PM-Modi-inaugurates-LNG-terminal-choc
olate-factory-in-Gujar.html) . Live Mint. Retrieved 1 October 2018.

23. Amul UHT: On a Quest for Zero adulterated milk | Watch the video – Yahoo India (http://in.news.yahoo.
com/video/amul-uht-quest-zero-adulterated-064035504.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/
20140102074816/http://in.news.yahoo.com/video/amul-uht-quest-zero-adulterated-064035504.html)
2 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine. In.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved on 29 November 2015.

24. Varma, Mini. "The moppet who put Amul on India's breakfast table"
(http://www.amul.com/story.html) . Amul. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
25. Rao, Subha J. (15 December 2007). "Punch guru" (https://web.archive.org/web/20121108194414/htt
p://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2007/12/15/stories/2007121551330100.htm) . The Hindu.
Chennai, India. Archived from the original (http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2007/12/15/stories/20
07121551330100.htm) on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2011.

26. "Brands peek out of the closet – The Times of India" (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Brands-p
eek-out-of-the-closet/articleshow/27248253.cms) . The Times Of India.

27. "In pics Fifty years on, Amul's 'utterly butterly' girl is still a delight" (http://www.newskarnataka.com/from
-the-web/in-pics-fifty-years-on-amuls-utterly-butterly-girl-is-still-a-delight) . NewsKarnataka. 17 October
2016.

28. Archived at Ghostarchive (https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/zIQTwukIDyg) and

the Wayback Machine (https://web.archive.org/web/20200708195023/https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=zIQTwukIDyg) : Amul The Taste of India (10 July 2015), Amul Milk – Aage Badta Hai India (http
s://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIQTwukIDyg) , retrieved 9 April 2019

29. "Amul smears butter on vegan Joaquin Phoenix's face in an ad celebrating Oscar win, gets slammed by
PETA" (https://www.hindustantimes.com/hollywood/amul-smears-butter-on-vegan-joaquin-phoenix-s-fac
e-in-ad-celebrating-oscar-win-gets-slammed-by-peta/story-Fx77XbHBFcolop5LYcY7mM.html) .
Hindustan Times. Indo Asian News Service. 12 February 2020. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2
0200212132923/https://www.hindustantimes.com/hollywood/amul-smears-butter-on-vegan-joaquin-ph
oenix-s-face-in-ad-celebrating-oscar-win-gets-slammed-by-peta/story-Fx77XbHBFcolop5LYcY7mM.htm
l) from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2021.

30. Chadda, Shivam (16 December 2019). "The Curious Case of Amul – How the brand came into existence"
(https://www.brandzwatch.com/amul-how-the-brand-came-into-existence/) . Brandzwatch. Retrieved
2 August 2021.

31. NDTV movies (http://www.ndtvmovies.com/newstory.asp?section=Movies&id=ENTEN20070021927)

NDTV.

32. Shyam Benegal at ucla.net (http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/Culture/Cinema/Benegal.html)

South Asia Studies, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

33. "Amul becomes first Indian dairy company to be in Rabobank's Global Top 20 list; Nestle leads" (https://
www.financialexpress.com/industry/amul-becomes-first-indian-dairy-company-to-be-in-rabobanks-global
-top-20-list-nestle-leads/2069079/lite/?utm_campaign=fullarticle&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=in
shorts) . The Financial Express (India). 29 August 2020.

External links

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 Official websit e (ht t p://www.amul.com/)

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