Milk prices in India are rising, and it is impacting the locals severely. Dakshina Kannada Cooperative Milk Producers Union Ltd began their new milk prices on Jan. 5. The price increased from Rs 30 to Rs 34 for a litre of toned milk, while Nandini homogenized milk has risen Rs 2 to Rs 19.
B.V. Sathyanarayana, who is the managing director of DKMUL, released a statement saying that the jumbo pack of homogenized milk now costs Rs 222 rather than Rs 198, a huge markup.
Currently, the market in India has not even caught up with the rise in cost, using packing film with the old prices on it still. However, companies are telling residents they must still pay the new prices, even though the packaging has not caught up yet. Other popular milk products in India, like mango lassi and buttermilk, will not increase in price, according to Sathyanarayana.
“We will take a call on it a month or two later,” he said.
All milk prices within the state have gone up by about Rs 4 per litre. Right now milk consumers served by Dakshina Kannada, Belagavi, Ballari, Vijayapura, Kalaburagi, Hubballi-Dharwad are paying a rupee more than those in the rest of Karnataka for a liter of toned milk.
The price markups here can likely be attributed to a lack of homogenization and pasteurization technologies. Homogenized milk uses a mechanical force of impact in order to achieve cell lysis. This is similar to what a French Press does but with slightly more control thanks to the forces of impact, cavitation, and shear.
Pasteurization is when milk is heated and then quickly cooled, effectively eliminating bad bacteria. This generally means the milk heats to 145 degrees Fahrenheit for about a half an hour before being cooled again. There are numerous heating techniques for this process that produce different results in the milk. Once India gains this technique, milk prices may be able to fall again.