Amul is an Indian dairy cooperative, based at Anand in the state of Gujarat, India. The word Amul is derived from the Sanskrit word Amulya meaning priceless. The cooperative was initially referred to as Anand Milk Federation Union Limited, hence the name Amul.
Formed in 1946, it is a brand managed by a cooperative body, the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF), which today is jointly owned by 3 million milk producers in Gujarat.
Over the years, Amul has been witnessing strong growth in this portfolio, with the segment growing at 53 per cent. As a result of growing consumer awareness and demand for good quality milk, the urban population has especially been showing great interest in long life Ultra High Temperature (UHT) products like Amul Taaza, which are packed in Tetra Pak cartons, which undergoes UHT treatment to remove all harmful microorganisms while retaining the nutrition in the milk.
Today, Amul sells around 4-5,00,000 litres of UHT milk and other value added products per day. The UHT products have enabled Amul to position itself as the market leader in packaged milk segment by penetrating the deeper and vast markets by maintaining long shelf life of milk, without the need of maintaining cold supply chains.
Amul Dairy received CII National Award for Food Safety 2013 for its Outstanding Performance in the Dairy Sector Manufacturing, Large Food Business Category. Amul was also named the Most Trusted brand in 2013 in the ‘Food and Beverages’ sector in The Brand Trust Report, published by Trust Research Advisory, whereas in the 2014 edition of The Brand Trust Report, Amul is ranked 7th in the list of India’s Most Trusted Food and Beverages brands.
Amul spurred India’s White Revolution, which made India the world’s largest producer of milk and milk products. In the process Amul became the largest food brand in India. The major consumers of Amul products are the USA, West Indies and countries in Africa, the Gulf Region and SAARC neighbours, etc.
Dr Verghese Kurien was the founderchairman of the GCMMF for more than 30 years and is always credited with the success of Amul. GCMMF (Amul) has the largest distribution network for any FMCG company. It has nearly 50 sales offices spread all over the country, more than 5000 wholesale dealers and more than seven lakh retailers.
Amul is also the largest exporter of dairy products in the country. Amul is available today in over 40 countries of the world. It is exporting a wide variety of products which include whole and skimmed milk powder, cottage cheese (Paneer), UHT milk, clarified butter (Ghee) and indigenous sweets. In September 2007, Amul emerged as the leading Indian brand according to a survey by Synovate to find out Asia’s top 1000 Brands
