For several years Amul has been one of the most talked about success stories from India, winning millions of hearts, minds and market share. According to The Economic Times, Brand Equitys annual survey of Indias Most Trusted Brands, Amul is the 12th Most Trusted Brand among consumer product brands of Indian origin. However, given the present "conflicts" between the federation and its members, which have dealt a severe blow to its image, Amul must resolve to get out of this mess fast.
Operation
Flood, a revolution in itself, was initiated by Dr. Verghese Kurien, the former
Chairman of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) who implemented it successfully
over a period of 26 years in three phases. Dr. Kurien made innovative use of a
World Bank loan, to accelerate the revolution. During its first phase, Operation
Flood linked consumers in India's metropolitan cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata
and Chennai. Surplus amount of dairy products imported from Europe was deployed
as an investment in building India's dairy industry. The 126,000 mt of skimmed
milk powder and 42,000 mt of butter oil, obtained from the EEC countries as food
aid, were utilized to finance the program. For the first time in Indian history,
food aid was witnessed as a vital resource of investment. Initiated in the year
1981, the aim of Operation Flood II was to build a National Milk Grid by connecting
136 rural milk sheds in 22 Indian states. As a result, there was a phenomenal
increase in the milk sheds from 18 to 136. During the Phase 3 program, emphasis
was given to R&D in animal health and nutrition. It enabled dairy cooperatives
to rapidly build up the basic infrastructure to procure more and more milk daily.
The
dairy cooperative movement in India took the shape of an apex cooperative organization
called the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which gave
birth to "Amul". GCMMF is a lean organization comprising of 12 affiliated
member dairies/district milk unions, with each having its own manufacturing unit.
Over the course of time, Amul helped in transforming milk from a commodity into
a brand. "The Taste of India" created a wave in the Indian market with
its commitment to quality and value for money. The success of Amul can be attributed
to its strong advertising strategies and implementation of the latest technologies.
The successful utilization of IT to bridge the Digital Divide gave a giant leap
to the brand to capture majority of the consumer market. |
