Amul eyes Israel partnerships, plans France, Germany and Switzerland entry

Managing Director of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) Jayen Mehta has said suitable tie-ups are being explored with Israeli as well as other West Asian companies to expand into newer markets.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18 on the sidelines of the India-Israel Business Summit in Tel Aviv, Mehta described West Asia as an important market for cooperative, which aims to deliver Kosher certification to increase its product availability in the Jewish majority country. He termed trade agreements as essential to benefit from global markets and to eliminate unreasonable non-tariff barriers.

As the largest milk producer in the world, India produces 1/4th of the world's milk. Mehta said that by the next decade, India is all set to produce 1/3rd of the world's milk.

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Describing the visit of the Indian business delegation along with the Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal as a historic occasion, he pointed out that Amul has already been exporting ghee to Israel for quite some time and looks to increase productivity and reduce the cost of operation for farmers through partnerships with Israel's cutting-edge technologies in breeding, feeding practices, agri-tech and irrigation. With India as a much bigger market, Amul looks to grow its presence in Israel with a lower cost of production.

Highlighting Amul's rank as the world's number 1 Cooperative as per the International Cooperative Alliance, he is looking forward to expanding its geographical reach through tie-ups with cooperatives based out of Europe and the US.

Stating that Amul is the only national dairy player in the US where it sells fresh milk through cooperatives in 35 states, he said that Amul's export of dahi, Ghee, cheese, and ice creams to the US hasn't been dented despite 50% duties. While he indicated that Europe never had any access to Indian dairy products, Mehta said that Amul has tied up with a cooperative in Spain to sell milk and is planning to launch operations in France, Germany, and Switzerland.

Also Read: Looking to start exporting multiple dairy products to Israel soon: Amul MD