Parag Milk Foods are gradually diverging into omnipresence with establishment of new Lactose plant. Company is a class act of B2C model that is sourcing strength from milk and milk products business for the cheese and whey protein business.
Company surfaced its first whey protein plant in Oct’17 and since then it has never seen behind. It has its best in range archetypal ‘Avtaar’,100% vegetarian whey protein.
The company has also ventured into whey protein powders, a by-product in the cheese manufacturing process.
According the company statement, “Through the commissioning of the lactose plant, the company is now intending to add higher value to whey permeates generated during the filtration process of whey protein. Whey permeate contains a high concentration of lactose, a natural milk sugar with fat and minerals, that is normally sold as a substitute to skimmed milk powder (SMP). Pure lactose, which largely consists of edible lactose used in confectionaries and food additives, and pharma-grade lactose used by the pharmaceutical and nutrition industries, garners a higher value and has a vast potential for growth”.
With the newly set-up facility Parag Milk Foods claims to manufacture humongous 40MT, a day along with serving the purpose of infant nutrition, production usage and all.
According to global analysis, the lactose market size in 2018 stood at $1.2bn and is proposed to grow to $1.5bn by 2026, exhibiting a CAGR of 3.7% during this period. The Indian lactose market size is between 40,000-45,000 MT and is valued at about $70m, with a major part of the requirement, are met through imports from dairy producing countries.
Devendra Shah, chairman, said, “Being a large cheese player, we always had whey protein and therefore lactose as a by-product, to which we want to further value-add to tap into high-quality ingredients for the Indian market. With our end-to-end manufacturing capabilities across the value chain, we are well placed to support the PM’s impetus towards ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ by reducing the import dependence of the country on lactose.
“Being agile in our response to market changes, we are constantly innovating our product offerings and concentrating on tie-ups with partners focused on quality. Consumers have become increasingly conscious about nutrition and there are a big shift and preference for trusted brands. As the market is shifting towards premiumization with a clear thrust towards value-added dairy products, we are the forerunners with more than two-thirds of our portfolio comprising of value-added products. With the addition of lactose to our portfolio, we are expecting our Health and Nutrition portfolio to grow further in the next two years, which will also improve our profitability.”
Parag Milk Foods has penetrations in local markets along with majority Indian Kitchens in the brand name ‘Gowardhan’.