The Karnataka Co–Operative Milk Producers' Federation Limited (KMF) is a dairy

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

from

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

, India, which sells products such as

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

curd Curd is obtained by Denaturation (biochemistry), coagulating milk in a sequential process called curdling. It can be a final dairy product or the first stage in cheesemaking. The coagulation can be caused by adding rennet, a Kefir cheese, ...

ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from South Asia. It is commonly used for cooking, as a Traditional medicine of India, traditional medicine, and for Hinduism, Hindu religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by ...

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

ice cream Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...

chocolates Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocessed, they ta ...

, and

sweets Candy, alternatively called sweets or lollies, is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, also called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, including chocolate, chewing gum, and sugar can ...

under the brand name Nandini. It is a federation of milk producers under the

ownership Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as '' title'', which may be separated and held by dif ...

Ministry of Cooperation The Ministry of Cooperation is a List of agencies of the government of India, Union ministry under the Government of India which was formed in 2021. The ministry provides a separate administrative, legal and policy framework for strengthening t ...

Government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as GoK or GoKA, formerly known as Government of Mysore (1956–1974), is a democratically elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka ...

. Almost every district in Karnataka has milk-producing co-operatives. The milk is collected from farmers who are its members, processed and sold in the market under the Nandini brand. It is the second-largest milk co-operative in India after

Amul The Anand Milk Union Limited commonly known as Amul is an Indian dairy brand owned by the cooperative society, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), based in Anand, Gujarat. GCMMF is controlled by 3.6 million milk producers. ...

Background

The first dairy co-operatives that make up KMF started in 1955 in Kudige, Kodagu District. KMF was founded in 1974 as Karnataka Dairy Development Corporation (KDDC) to implement a dairy development project run by the World Bank. In 1984 the organisation was renamed KMF. KMF has 15 milk unions throughout the Karnataka State which procure milk from Primary Dairy Cooperative Societies (DCS) and distribute milk to the consumers in various urban and rural markets in Karnataka State with 1,500 members.

Operations

Occasionally, there is spillover from

Karnataka politics The politics of Karnataka is represented by three major political parties, the Indian National Congress, the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Janata Dal (Secular) and the Indian National Congress led coalition government ...

into the activities of KMF, including the elections for the post of chairman, and the timing of the milk price hike. Ahead of Karnataka State Legislative Assembly elections in May 2023, a row erupted over the ruling BJP government in the state allowing Amul to sell milk and other products in Karnataka with allegations of union Home and co-operative minister Amit Shah's attempt to merge Nandini (KMF) with Amul in Karnataka. A series of protests on social media with #SaveNandini and #GoBackAmul on the streets followed in the state. Rajkumar has worked as the ambassador, free of cost, and did his first and last

Television advertisement A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

in 1996. Later

Puneeth Rajkumar Dr. Puneeth Rajkumar (17 March 1975 – 29 October 2021), affectionately known as Appu (by his fans, after his first lead role in the movie Appu (2002 film), ''Appu''), was an Indian actor, playback singer, film producer, television presenter a ...

was selected as the ambassador for Nandini Products. In Dec 2009, Puneeth Rajkumar signed an agreement with KMF, free of cost. In 2014,

Shriya Saran Shriya Saran Bhatnagar ( born 11 September 1982) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Telugu language, Telugu, Tamil language, Tamil and Hindi films. Although Saran aspired to become a dancer, she became an actress and made her film deb ...

was selected as Nandini Good Life Product Ambassador in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh. Some of the products made by KMF under the brand name Nandini are available in

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Product range

Karnataka Milk Federation which markets its milk, milk products and sweets under the name of Nandini has a wide range of milk and products. Pasteurised milk, Toned milk, Standardised milk,

Ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from South Asia. It is commonly used for cooking, as a Traditional medicine of India, traditional medicine, and for Hinduism, Hindu religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by ...

Buttermilk Buttermilk is a fermented dairy drink. Traditionally, it was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream. As most modern butter in Western countries is not made with cultured cream but uncultured sweet cream, most mode ...

Curds Curd is obtained by coagulating milk in a sequential process called curdling. It can be a final dairy product or the first stage in cheesemaking. The coagulation can be caused by adding rennet, a culture, or any edible acidic substance suc ...

Butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

Paneer Paneer (), is a fresh acid-set cheese, common in cuisine of South Asia, made from cow milk or buffalo milk. It is a non-aged, non-melting soft cheese made by curdling milk with a fruit- or vegetable-derived acid, such as lemon juice. Pa ...

, Chocolates, and

Mysore Pak Mysorepak ( , literally, Mysore's confectionery) is a type of mithai (sweetmeat) from India. It is prepared with only three ingredients: ghee, sugar and besan. It originated in the royal kitchen of Kingdom of Mysore. Now Mysore is one of the ...

are some.

Ice Cream

There are 50 varieties of Nandini's Ice cream available in the market and was launched on 18 March 2024. A high-end ice cream parlour of the brand was also launched on Mantri Mall, Malleshwaram, Bengaluru in August 2021.

Nandini Cafe Moo

In 2021, Nandini launched its restaurant chain called Nandini Cafe Moo in various places across

Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. Its first international branch in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

, was opened in 2023.

References

External links

* Economy of Karnataka Dairy products companies of India Dairy cooperatives in India Ice cream brands Dairy farming in India {{India-agri-stub