Demand for milk products soars as Teej approaches

DEMAND for dairy products has soared in the Kathmandu valley on the eve of the Hindu festival of Teej. According to entrepreneurs, demand for milk and its products has increased 25-30 percent, and is likely to jump two- to three-fold as the festival nears. The arrival of Teej, one of the most widely celebrated Hindu festivals, has given a big boost to demand for milk and products like ghee, curd, butter, cheese, paneer and ice cream. Some dairies have doubled their production to meet the market demand. While the state dairy product supplier Dairy Development Corporation (DDC) has a strong dominance in the supply of milk, private firms like Nepal Dairy and Snow Fun, among others, have a significant hold in other dairy products. It is estimated that DDC meets less than 40 percent of the valley’s requirement of dairy products. “We have started witnessing a big growth in demand for dairy products,” said Siya Ram Prasad Singh, general manager of DDC. “We are finding it difficult to fulfil demand for some of our products.” According to Singh, DDC supplies around 135,000 l of milk, 2,000 kg of ghee, 6,000 l of curd, 400-500 kg of paneer and 500 kg of cheese daily. “As demand has increased significantly, DDC will find it hard to supply ghee as per the market’s demand,” he said. Similarly, Bishwo Ram Khadka, president of the Dairy Producers Association, said that the arrival of the festive period had given a boost to the country’s dairy market. “An increase in demand for dairy products is normal during the festive period. This time too, the market has swelled significantly,” said Khadka. Apart from the festive demand, the consumption pattern of dairy products has been rising constantly over the past few years. “The dairy market is estimated to be growing around 10 percent annually,” said Khadka. According to him, increasing urbanization and awareness among the people about the benefits of dairy products have played a key role in the growth of the country’s dairy market. “The inflow of remittance has brought economic prosperity to the people living in remote villages. Due to this, consumption of dairy products in villages has gone up,” Khadka said. While producers of dairy products have already reported a shortage of some products, the supply situation is likely to become more difficult in the next few days as they are finding it difficult to increase output. “The supply of milk from farmers has been decreasing constantly since the past few months. This is why we are finding it hard to increase production, despite having significant market demand,” said Singh. However, he stressed that there wouldn’t be a shortage of items like milk as DDC had purchased adequate amounts of powdered milk and has been importing milk from India. Meanwhile, Khadka added that the market might face a shortage as consumption gœs up in villages during this period, and farmers will have less to sell to dairy firms.