India’s leading automobile manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has entered into dairy business, beginning with milk.
M&M has started selling branded milk products under the brand Saboro in Indore, Madhya Pradesh state of India.
The milk products will be available in pouches in four variants - double toned milk, full cream milk, protein rich milk and cream rich milk. The milk will be sold in Indore for some months before spreading its business to the capital city Bhopal.
From here, it plans to expand to other major cities, while finally aiming to introduce the rest of the dairy products.
Mahindra & Mahindra executive director Dr. Pawan Goenka said: "Our Agri business cherishes the long-term aspiration of delivering 'FarmTech Prosperity'.
"Today, with Saboro, we are taking another important step in our journey to become a complete value chain player.
"Our stringent systems and processes have resulted in products that stands out in the market in terms of its quality especially with our Mahindra Quality Standards (MQS). With our launch today, we are confident that Saboro will establish itself as a premium brand for milk in India in the near future."
Launched in 2015, the company's agricultural division is already selling fruits, pulses and oilseeds, and has claimed a 50% growth in the sales of pulses and oilseeds.
M&M is directly working with farmers and has an arrangement for a milk collection supply chain, comprising sophisticated technology, with about 70 villages around Indore.
According to Sharma, processing would be done in Indore, beginning with 10,000 litres of milk processed per day, which will be increased to 50,000 litres per day.
Mahindra & Mahindra Agri and Africa and South Asia Operations president and chief executive Ashok Sharma said: "With Saboro, through our unique Farm to Fork model, we have entered the branded dairy segment with an aim to connect the farmers with the discerning Indian customers who look for dairy products that are fresh and of the highest quality.
"Our Saboro milk provides assurance of cream and nutrition which came out as the two biggest requirements during our research with customers in Indore.
"Also all our milk variants are specially fortified with Vitamin A and D. We are confident that, with Mahindra's inherent farmer connect and robust quality systems, Saboro will soon become a brand of choice for dairy products."
