Amul is an Indian dairy cooperative association founded in the Gujarat town of Anand. The word “Amul” comes from the Sanskrit word “Amulya,” which means “priceless or valuable.” This case study on Amul examines the company’s history, business model, revenue, and important aspects that contributed to its success.
The Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF) manages Amul, which was founded Amul was the catalyst for India’s White Revolution, which saw the country become the world’s largest producer of milk and milk products. Tribhuvandas Patel formed Amul under the leadership of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India’s first deputy prime minister.
In 1946, the Kaira District Milk Union Limited was formed. Until his death in the 1970s, Tribhuvandas was the organization’s leader. He spoke Dr. Verghese Kurien in 1949 and persuaded Dr. Kurien to assist in the mission of the White Revolution. Dr. Verghese Kurien is widely considered the founder of Amul.in 1946 and now represents 3.6 million milk producers in Gujarat.
Table of Contents
FOUNDER
Amul was created by Verghese Kurien and Tribhuvandas Kishibhai Patel. Since June 30, 2010, R S Sodhi has been the CEO of Amul.
The Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd manages Amul, which is a cooperative brand (GCMMF). It is now jointly owned by 36 lakh Gujarati milk producers and the apex organisation of 13 District Milk Unions distributed across 13,000 villages.
THE WHITE REVOLUTION AND AMUL’S HISTORY
Here’s a quick look of Amul’s history and how it influenced the White Revolution. The Amul cooperative was founded on December 19, 1946, in response to the exploitation of local milk producers by the dealers and agents of the Polson dairy, which was the biggest dairy at the time.
The price of milk was chosen at random. Polson had been granted monopolistic rights to gather milk from Kaira dairy farmers and supply it to the metropolis of Mumbai by the government.
The farmers of Kaira, enraged by this treatment, addressed Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel through their leader Tribhuvandas K. Patel. Rather than relying on Polson, Sardar Patel urged them to form an organisation, the Kaira District Co-usable Milk Producers’ Union (KDCMPUL), and deliver milk directly to the Bombay Milk Scheme. He dispatched Morarji Desai to resolve the farmers’ problems.
The majority of the milk producers were small farmers who could only offer 1–2 litres of milk per day, hence milk collecting was decentralised. Every community was given its own cooperative.
KDCMPUL began pasteurising milk for the ‘Bombay Milk Scheme’ in June 1948. Amul celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1973 with Morarji Desai, Maniben Patel, and Verghese Kurien, under the leadership of Tribhuvandas Patel.
The majority of the milk producers were small farmers who could only offer 1–2 litres of milk per day, hence milk collecting was decentralised. Every community was given its own cooperative.
KDCMPUL began pasteurising milk for the ‘Bombay Milk Scheme’ in June 1948. Amul celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1973 with Morarji Desai, Maniben Patel, and Verghese Kurien, under the leadership of Tribhuvandas Patel.
The cooperative’s dairy’s success quickly extended throughout Anand’s Gujarat area. As a result, five unions were established in other districts, including Mehsana, Banaskantha, Baroda, Sabarkantha, and Surat, on the ‘Anand pattern.’
India’s White Revolution began in 1970. The Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF), an apex marketing organisation for these district cooperatives, was established in 1973 to pool resources and increase the market while reducing advertising costs and eliminating internal competition. The Kaira Union, which had been known by the brand name Amul since 1955, changed its name to GCMMF.
Since then, GCMMF has grown to become India’s largest food marketing organisation. It is Gujarat’s leading dairy cooperative organisation. The exclusive marketing of products under the ‘Amul’ and ‘Sagar’ brands is the responsibility of GCMMF.
Dairy cooperatives in Gujarat have built an economic network that connects more than 3.1 million village-produced milk products to millions of Indian consumers during the previous five and a half decades.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Amul’s chocolate plant at Mogar, Anand, near its headquarters on September 30, 2018.
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND BUSINESS MODEL
Amul follows a unique strategy in which it gives its customers “value for money” items while securing the premiums of the milk-producing farmers who supply it (as a shareholder). Because milk is a perishable commodity, the rancher may suffer a loss if it isn’t sold before the end of the contract period.
THE ORGANIZATION’S STRUCTURE
The “Anand design” cooperative framework was named after Amul’s cooperative model. It’s a three-tiered system that includes town social orders, regional dairy associations, and a state-level entity. Each level is financially independent of the others, and it employs agents from the level below it.
It’s not difficult to comprehend. When one person does not have enough funds to generate the required capital for the company, other members who share the same goal pool their resources to create a large-capital organisation. The cooperative concept is advantageous since it ensures brand trust. Even banks prefer to lend money to cooperatives rather than to individuals. Amul now has 30 lakh farmers from all over India as members.
The Kaira District Milk Cooperative Union (Amul), based in Anand, has grown at a rapid pace. It joined together with other Gujarat milk cooperatives and today represents 2.12 million farmers, supplying milk to 10,411 towns. It focuses on fourteen area-level plants (associations) that are overseen by the GCMMF.
From the start, it was assumed that this activity would directly benefit and change poor farmers, as well as contribute to societal improvement. Markets at the time, and even now, are rudimentary and lacking in foundation. Amul and GCMMF realised that development and improvement could not be left to market forces alone, and that deliberate intervention was essential.
THE STRATEGY OF AMUL IN DIGITAL MARKETING
As the world becomes increasingly digital, every company wants to rethink its advertising approach. Like its rival companies, Amul has reduced its investment in television ads and has begun to focus more on internet marketing and advertising.
Amul is on Instagram & Fb –
Amul’s move from offline to internet advertising has been very seamless. They’d previously been creating material for flyers and newspapers, and now they’re doing the same thing for their Facebook and Instagram posts. It’s Lady Amul Butter, the world’s most talked-about event, that inspires his most popular Instagram and Facebook posts.
Amul on Twitter –
More than 335K Twitter followers may be a huge fan base because Twitter represents an exclusive platform in comparison to other social media structures like Facebook and Instagram there have been several occasions when Amul Butter used the smiling photo of a lady that was presented to them. Many individuals link to and share these photographs to precise their opinions on current events.
Amul is on Youtube –
In addition, Amul has a popular YouTube channel called Amul Taste of India, which has a following of approximately 4.03,000 subscribers. The video was a classified ad that had previously been on television. During the Covid-19 epidemic, Amul launched a new promotional campaign called Simple Household Cooked Recipes, which was also pushed as “#Simple-HomeMade-Recipes” on social media.
INDIAN COMMERCIAL LEGEND OF THE AMUL GIRL IS TOLD IN HER VOICE.
The Amul girl is the company’s official mascot, and she’s gorgeous. A hand-drawn parody of a young average-looking girl with blue hair and a ponytail. Amul’s competitor logo was designed in 1967 as a response to Polson’s butter-girl. It’s the longest ad campaign in the country!
REVENUE AND GROWTH AT AMUL
In 2020, Amul’s revenue was INR 38,550 crores (US$5.4 billion). The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd., which markets Amul milk and dairy products, reported a 13% increase in revenue to Rs 33,150 crores in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020. The Amul group’s revenue topped Rs 45,000 crores in 2019, a 13 percent increase over the previous year.
Because to increased milk procurement, expansion in business sectors, and the shipping of new commodities, the Amul Federation has maintained a compound annual growth rate of over 17.5 percent for the past nine years.
| Type | Cooperative society |
| Industry | Food processingFMCG |
| Founded | 1946; 76 years ago |
| Founder | Tribhuvandas Patel |
| Headquarters | Anand, Gujarat, India |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Rupinder Singh Sodhi |
| Products | Dairy |
| Revenue | ₹386 billion (US$5.1 billion) (2020) |
| Number of employees | 1,000 (Marketing Arm) 3.6 million (3.6 million) (Milk producing members) |
| Website | amul.com amuldairy.com |
FAQs
Q. What is Amul’s Full form?
A. It stands for Anand Milk Union Limited. Amul is an Indian dairy cooperative society based in Anand (Gujarat).
Q. Who is the founder of the Amul brand?
A. Dr. Verghese Kurien and Tribhuvandas Kishibhai Patel are widely considered as the Founders of Amul. Tribhuvandas headed the organization until his death in the 1970s.
Q. What is White Revolution and who started it?
A. The white revolution was the initiative responsible for the growth of milk production in India and encouraged the production and use of Indian dairy products. Amul started India’s White Revolution that made India the world’s biggest maker of milk and milk products. Dr. Verghese Kurien is known as the ‘Father of the White Revolution’ in India.
Q. Who is Amul’s Owner?
A. Amul is a cooperative brand managed by a cooperative body, the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF). Verghese Kurien and Tribhuvandas Kishibhai Patel founded Amul. Amul is owned by 3.6 million milk producers of Gujarat today.
Q. When was Amul founded?
A. It was founded on 14 December 1946.
Q. What does Amul mean?
A. It stands for Anand Milk Union Limited.
Q. What was the effect of the White Revolution?
A. White Revolution made India the biggest manufacturer of milk and milk items. It additionally diminished the acts of fraud and malpractices by milk dealers and traders.
CONCLUSION
Amul was ranked first among the top a thousand manufacturing enterprises in Asia. Amul has progressed from being exploited by middlemen to becoming a must-have item for every Indian household. The invention of compelling strategies that would touch the hearts of every Indian paved Amul’s route to success.
Amul was able to leave a lasting impact on its clients by subtly introducing the “Amul Girl” into contemporary settings and sharing the results across all social media platforms. It has attracted a large number of clients thanks to celebrity support, and it has created customer-friendly practises. With today’s global epidemic, it’s more important than ever to be practical and market our items online.
