Amul - Evolution of Marketing Strategy

Under the chairmanship of Tribhuvandas Patel (Patel), the Kaira Union, headquartered in Anand, began with two milk societies, and a daily milk collection of 250 litres. When it started operations, the cooperative included two tiers. At the base was the primary village dairy cooperative society (DCS) of milk producers. Several such village cooperatives together formed the district milk producers' union at the second level, which was entrusted with procurement and processing of milk. By appointing qualified technologists and professional managers, the cooperatives helped the farmers to leverage modern management practices and technology. Varghese Kurien's (Kurien) association with KCMPUL began soon after the inception of the cooperative.

Amul followed a unique business model, which aimed at providing 'value for money' products to its consumers, while protecting the interests of the milk-producing farmers who were its suppliers as well as its owners. As milk was a perishable item, the farmer suffered a loss if it was not sold before the end of the day.

Amul bought all the milk offered by the milk producer, made timely payment, and shared with the producers the profit generated from marketing the milk and milk products under the Amul brand name...