Mother Dairy aims at `700-cr turnover from horticulture in FY16

Leading milk supplier Mother Dairy is looking at Rs 700-crore turnover from its horticulture business in the coming fiscal on expected jump in sale of pulses.

“We are expecting a turnover of Rs 630 crore this fiscal from the horticulture business alone. In the next fiscal, we are aiming at over Rs 700 crore from this division,” Mother Dairy’s Business Head (Horticulture) Pradipta K Sahoo told PTI.

Higher turnover is expected to come from sale of pulses, a new product added under its brand ‘Safal’ recently, he said, adding that pulses will be sold both at Safal and other retail outlets.

Presently, Mother Dairy -- a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) -- is selling pulses at all its Safal outlets in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR). It plans to sell pulses in non-Safal outlets next month. “We are working to enter into other markets beyond NCR and by the end of next month, our pulses will be available in Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttrakhand and Assam,” Sahoo added.

At present, the company is selling 14 variants of pulses in the packets of one kg each in the price range  of Rs 48 to Rs 125 per kg depending upon the type of pulses. Mother Dairy is the second big player after Tata Group which has entered into the market of branded pulses. Tata group is selling its pulses under the brand name ‘Tata i Shakti’.

Mother Dairy earns half of its revenue in horticulture segment from sale of fresh fruits and vegetables, followed by sale of pulp and packed food items including jams and sauces. Besides horticulture, the company’s other three business segments are -- milk, dairy items and edible oils under the brand ‘Dhara’. It is the single largest seller of milk and dairy products in the NCR.