Aavin on Friday effected an upward revision of the prices of milk-based products, including ghee, skimmed milk powder, curd and badam powder. A one-litre jar of ghee will now cost ₹535 as against the previous price of ₹515; a one-litre carton of ghee is now priced at ₹530 (earlier ₹510); and 1 kg skimmed milk powder will cost ₹360 instead of ₹320. A 500 ml pack of curd will now cost ₹30. The prices of Kulfi (60 ml bar) and chocolate and vanilla cones, too, have been revised. They will now cost ₹30 each.
The Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation, whose popular brand is Aavin, matched the prices of these products with those of another cooperative, Amul. “We have not revised the price of the 100 ml pack of ghee, even though we will gain ₹2 per pack if we did. The last time that the prices were revised was in July 2020,” explained an official source in Aavin.
Another source said they had to resort to this measure to stem the black marketing of their products. “The price difference between Aavin and private brands is huge. Even after the upward revision of prices, a kilo of ghee is cheaper by ₹100 per litre when compared to other brands. This revision will not bring in much in terms of revenue,” the official added.
Consumer activist T. Sadagopan said that though the price increase would affect consumers in a small way, the cooperative had to bring in periodic hikes to survive in the market. “However, despite low prices when compared to other brands, Aavin was still not able to become the market leader in such products. It still had a long way to go to reach the quality benchmark,” he said.
