Four in 10 households affected by higher milk prices
1 min read . Updated: 07 Feb 2023, 12:23 PM IST
PremiumEarlier this month, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, that sells milk under the brand Amul took another round of price hike, raising the price of milk ₹3 per litre. Amul last hiked prices in October 2022 by ₹2 per litre. Mother Dairy took a round of price hike in December last year
New Delhi: With rising milk prices, four in 10 Indian households have either cut down on the quantity of milk consumed, shifted to lower priced alternatives or stopped buying milk, according to findings of a survey conducted by LocalCircles.
The survey that received over 10,000 responses from consumers across 303 districts of India shows that households remain sensitive to rising prices of milk.
Earlier this month, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, that sells milk under the brand Amul took another round of price hike, raising the price of milk ₹3 per litre. Amul last hiked prices in October 2022 by ₹2 per litre. Mother Dairy took a round of price hike in December last year.
As milk prices continue to surge, the percentage of households which switched to cheaper alternatives of the same brand rose to 16% in February 2023 from 4% in August 2022, the survey findings revealed.
“With 19% reducing the quantity of milk they purchase in the last 12 months and 3% households just putting a full stop to their milk consumption, the need of the hour is for Government to intervene to ensure prices for consumers don’t rise any further in 2023," LocalCircles added.
Meanwhile, Indian households have been absorbing high costs as inflation remains high.
“Frequent increase in prices of different grades of milk of different brands several times over the last one year has been bad news. Most well-known dairy brands, whether cooperatives or startups, have raised the price of their products at least two-to-five times in one year by ₹1-3 each time. The latest increase of ₹3 in the prices of all grades of milk by Amul, Govardhan and other brands has once again got some household consumers to take a call on optimizing or reducing their milk consumption," it said.
Additionally, 59% or 6 in 10 households surveyed said they are paying higher prices and buying the same quantity of milk from their brand of choice. Among the remaining respondents, 19% indicated that they have reduced the quantity of milk purchased; 16% have switched to a cheaper alternatives or variant within the same brand. Meanwhile, 3% switched to a lower cost brand or local supply source; and 3% stopped buying milk altogether.
