5 Entrepreneurs Who are Changing Milk Drinking in India India has joined the fervor of celebrating milk consumption and began celebrating November 26 as National Milk Day in the memory Dr Verghese Kurien,

Milk is not only a product that humans consume. It is one of the most essential products for the well being of a human. Barring the lactose-intolerant ones, consumers find life without milk nearly impossible.

All dairy products starting from cheese to curd, milk is used in many cuisines across the globe.

India has joined the fervor of celebrating milk consumption and began celebrating November 26 as National Milk Day in the memory Dr Verghese Kurien, the Father of India's White Revolution since 2014.

The day celebrates the efforts of those who ensure consumable supply of this vital product from farms to grocery stores. We tell you about 5 successful entrepreneurs who are changing milk drinking in India.

RS Sodhi – Managing Director, Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (Amul)

Amul, the company that was formed in 1946 by Dr Kurien himself is a brand managed by a cooperative body, the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF), which today is jointly owned by 3.6 million milk producers in Gujarat.

Amul spurred India's White Revolution, which made the country the world's largest producer of milk and milk products.

The company which became the largest food brand in India and has ventured into markets overseas is now managed by RS Modi who has aggressively been expanding GCMMF.

Sodhi, earlier this year, said he was planning to increase Amul's milk processing capacity to 320 lakh litre per day from the current 280 lakh litre per day. The company aims to increase this capacity to 360 lakh litres per day by 2020.

Srikumar Misra – Managing Director & CEO, Milk Mantra

The Odisha-based startup dairy firm started six years ago and has a strong presence in eastern India. The company boasts of one processing unit in Konark in Odisha and an extended processing unit near Mumbai.

Milk Mantra last month it is targeting a turnover of Rs 150 crore this fiscal. The company recently launched turmeric-flavour milkshake under the brand MooShake and plans to introduce the product in other cities over the next few months. It is on the lookout of exporting MooShake to the US, the UK and Japan in the near future.

S Nagarajan – Managing Director, Mother Dairy

Mother Dairy, which was established in 1974 under the Operation Flood Program, a nationwide development program designed to revolutionize milk production in rural India, is now a subsidiary company of a wholly owned company of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).

NDDB promoted dairy cooperative enterprises in Northern India with the objective of providing round the year stable and competitive price to rural milk producers through a three-tier structure of State federations, milk shed-based unions and their member village dairy cooperative societies.

Today, Mother Dairy markets and sells dairy products under the Mother Dairy brand, including liquid milk, dahi, and ice creams, dairy whitener, cheese and butter.

On the National Milk Day, Mother Diary spokesperson told Entrepreneur India that Mother Diary pledges to remain relevant to the farmers' cause and will continue to see the same as the reason of existence.

Devendra Shah – Founder, Parag Milk Foods

Founded in 1992, Parag is one of the India's largest Private dairy products manufacturers and is located in the milk belts at Manchar, Maharashtra and Palamner, Andhra Pradesh in India.

The company also has its own dairy farm called Bhagyalaxmi, where it hosts 3,000 specially bred Holstein Freisens cows and equipped with one of India's first Rotary Parlors, which has mechanized the whole milking process and in turn ensured high quality and hygiene.

Under the brand "Gowardhan", it offers traditional products like ghee, dahi, paneer etc. whereas under the brand name "Go" it offers new generation products like cheese, UHT milk, yogurt etc.

Aalekh Agarwal – Founder, Cowboys.desi

Cowboys is the retail arm of Trunks and Roots, a company dedicated to dairy activities and allied agriculture. The company provides pure untouched cow milk along with many other organic products.

Founded by 28-year old Aalekh Agarwal who got his inspiration to start the brand after witnessing manipulation and malpractices of food products in the market, Cowboys delivers milk to consumers' doorstep.

The company has an integrated and inter-dependent farm where they control all the factors from cow feed and fodder, balanced nutrition, hygiene, medical treatment, milking and packing at one place. They started with just one offering i.e. cow milk and today have a range of 10 products including cow ghee among other offerings.