Online booking for milk has registered a sharp increase with more and more people opting to shop from their homes on account of the COVID-19 lockdown.
According to AM Needs, an app-based service provider which supplies milk and other dairy products of the Kerala Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (Milma) to customers, advance online bookings for milk in the State capital has risen by 200% after the lockdown.
In fact, the demand shot up to such an extent on Wednesday that AM Needs closed bookings for the day around 3 p.m. in Thiruvananthapuram city, said its CEO Sujith Sudhakaran.
“Online bookings for milk has gone up by 200% in the capital, which is more than we can handle. In Kochi, where we offer a similar service, the demand is up by 100%,” Sujith said.
AM Needs supplies other commodities also including chapati, fruits, eggs and vegetables. Online demand for all the products have shot up, according to Sujith.
Milma officials confirmed that the advance online bookings for milma products have risen after the State went into lockdown. Milma counters across the capital city too have been recording brisk sales.
That said, Milma’s overall sales do not show an increase as bulk purchases by restaurants and other establishments have stopped due to the lockdown, Milma officials pointed out. In Thiruvananthapuram district, daily sales now average around two lakh litres.
Holiday
In the north Kerala districts, Milma had even declared a one-day holiday for milk collection on Tuesday following a sharp drop in sales.
Milma also is taking steps to ensure adequate supply to its outlets by 5 p.m., Milma officials said. As part of the COVID-19 preventive measures, Milma has also divided the workforce at its dairies into two shifts to further reduce the possibility of disease transmission.
