Allaying fears of a milk crisis on Monday, the Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (Milma) made it clear that there was no shortage of either milk or milk products in the State.
Milma, rather, is faced with the problem of unsold milk in large quantities, notably in the North Kerala districts.
One-day holiday
Milma’s Malabar regional milk producers’ union has declared a one-day holiday for milk procurement on Tuesday following the dip in sales triggered by the COVID-19 crisis.
“Dairies in the Malabar region have reported a large quantity of unsold milk. Sales have plummeted on account of the COVID-19 situation in the districts of Kasaragod, Kannur and Kozhikode. Additionally, there were no sales on Sunday on account of the janata curfew,” Milma chairman P.A. Balan said.
As part of addressing the problem, Milma’s Thiruvananthapuram Regional Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union Ltd. (TRCMPU) decided to take back 75,000 litres of the unsold milk. The regional union has despatched five tankers to north Kerala for the purpose.
Milma’s daily milk procurement in the State stands at 12 lakh litres.
Spurt in sales
Meanwhile, in Thiruvananthapuram, Milma reported a spurt in milk sales on Monday following a panic-buying spree triggered by fears of more stringent curbs on public life given the COVID-19 scenario.
“Our normal Monday sales in Thiruvananthapuram district average 2.10 lakh litres. But it had dipped to two lakh litres following the COVID-19 outbreak. On Monday (March 23), however, we recorded sales to the tune of 2.4 lakh litres,” a Milma official said.
“Many of our outlets reported that customers had taken home seven to eight sachets on Monday morning fearing a shortage in the coming days,” a Milma official said.
Some Milma outlets did face a shortage on Monday, forcing regular customers to seek out other outlets.
Meanwhile, Milma also made it clear that it was ensuring stringent adherence to the COVID-19 safety guidelines in the procurement of milk from dairy farmers and its sale to the public.
