Guwahati: The West Assam Milk Producers’ Cooperative Union Ltd (WAMUL), which operates under the brand ‘Purabi’, has launched a new range of long shelf-life flavoured milk, becoming the first dairy unit in the North East to offer this product, a statement said on Saturday.
Assam’s Minister for Cooperation Nandita Gorlosa launched three variants of flavoured milk -mango, strawberry and kesar – at a programme here on Friday.
The flavoured milk is produced in the cooperative’s facility here, which has been developed under the World Bank-funded Apart project of the state government.
Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation project is aimed at laying special focus on value addition in the production and post-harvest segments of selected agricultural commodity value chains.
The launch of the long shelf-life flavoured milk will enable a significant brand expansion across geography, the statement said.
‘Purabi’ has also become the first dairy cooperative in the region to offer flavoured milk under its bouquet of products, and will introduce more flavours in the near future, it added.
Speaking on the occasion, Garlosa said, “Today is a very important day for the people of Assam. It is the dream of our honourable Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to uplift farmers of the state. The launch of these new products will help us realise his vision of producing 10 lakh litres of milk daily in Assam.”
WAMUL Managing Director SK Parida said the cooperative has been encouraged to launch the long shelf-life flavoured milk, following a positive response to its ice cream, introduced in the market in March this year.
“The new flavoured milk is healthier and produced from milk sourced from Assam’s farmers. It is designed to attract both young children and grown-ups alike. We are also planning to introduce more categories in the coming days,” he said.
“We now have East Assam Milk Producer’s Cooperative Union Ltd (EAMUL) on a similar track of transformation and North East Dairy and Foods Ltd (NEDFL), a joint venture company formed between the Assam government and National Dairy Development Board, to add extra wings to Purabi’s journey ahead,” added SB Bose, managing director of NEDFL.
The statement said Purabi Dairy’s entry into the market is a strategic move towards creating products with a longer shelf life, allowing for greater market penetration and value addition to milk produced by its members.
