‘Save Nandini’, ‘Go back’: Trending hashtags reveal brewing discontent as Amul enters Karnataka market

Dairy farmers and KMF officials feel that Nandini is losing out on the perception battle. Many believe that the milk federation is not doing enough to promote and increase the brand value of Nandini, said Anand Kumar, one of the directors of KMF. He also appealed that
the government should give dairy farmers the autonomy to fix prices as per the demand.

“We are far behind in marketing and promoting the Nandini brand despite having better quality of milk than Amul. Which is why #SaveNandini is important. Although the usage of Amul milk is just 10 per cent, their advertising is 90 per cent, which is a big concern for Karnataka’s dairy farmers. We need to implement a robust advertising campaign to enhance the brand value of Nandini and create awareness among people,” said Kumar.

He added, “Like Amul, dairy farmers should also be given a free hand in fixing the prices of Nandini products. Their dependency on the government for subsidies is what has led us to this situation. Let the government give us Rs 5-10 extra per litre on milk. In the coming days, we will bring this issue up in the governing body meeting and call for protest against Amul depending on the situation.”

Taking to Twitter, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah slammed the Karnataka BJP government for allowing backdoor entry for Amul into the state. He said Amul’s entry in Karnataka would be a threat to the assets of Kannadigas. “Beware of @PMOIndia @narendramodi, @HMOIndia @AmitShah & their double engine govt!! They will sell all the assets belonging to Kannadigas. After destroying our banks, they are now determined to destroy Nandini KMF – a brand built by our farmers. State’s milk production is affected since the day union cooperative minister @AmitShah spoke about the possibility of KMF & Amul merger,” he said.

He added, “As Kannadigas vocally opposed the idea of merger, Amul is now trying to gain backdoor entry. Gujarat based Amul had previously tried to enter Karnataka’s market to sell milk and curd. We had not allowed it to happen then, but now @BJP4Karnataka is welcoming them with open arms.” He also pointed out that KMF’s daily milk collection, which was at 99 lakh litres has now dropped
to 71 lakh litres.

Janata Dal (Secular) too slammed Amul for making efforts to root out the Nandini brand from Karnataka. Taking it to Twitter, the party said, “In a situation where KMF Nandini’s milk, ghee and butter are not available in all parts of the state, what does this development of Gujarat’s Amul company for online marketing indicate? Doesn’t this feel like a black shadow on the work of countless Kannadigas who sustain on Nandini’s milk?”

“This development seems to be part of an evil plan to phase out our nation’s proud institution KMF Nandini. When a direct merger is not possible, these kinds of tricks come into play. If we sit idly by saying that this is the competition with a giant organization, the future will be dire,” JD(S) added.

In fact, Opposition leaders and pro-Kannada groups last week slammed the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for allegedly imposing Hindi on Nandini products by adding the term ‘Dahi’ followed by the local nomenclature ‘Mosaru’ (meaning curd). However, after facing severe backlash, the FSSAI rolled back the decision and said milk federations can use the term ‘Curd’ followed by the local nomenclature in brackets.