Strengthening the regional dairy value chain in Punjab, India

A new regional Dairy Hub has been established to help more smallholder dairy farmers to access the formal dairy market in Punjab while improving their productivity, profitability and milk quality.

Tetra Pak India and Tetra Pak Food for Development have partnered with the customer Verka Dairy, the Punjab State Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation, to launch the Punjab Dairy Hub. Although Punjab has a long tradition of village-level milk cooperatives, much of the state’s milk is unprocessed, which leads to inconsistent supply and seasonal shortages. Additionally, the demand for processed, high-quality milk continues to rise, which means that Verka Dairy needs additional reliable suppliers of milk.

The Dairy Hub model supports the entire value chain

Tetra Pak’s Dairy Hub model connects smallholders to processors and provides comprehensive services and technical expertise, including training in farm management, animal health, hygienic milking and feeding practices. By applying best practices and technical training, the Punjab Dairy Hub aims to increase yields per cow, boost milk quality and improve incomes for smallholder farmers while ensuring Verka Dairy can source more consistent volumes throughout the year.

The Punjab Dairy Hub will begin with two milk collection centres and 25 reference farms to demonstrate how both milk quality and output can be increased, with plans to scale up to 650 farms during the 28-month project. Higher collection volumes are expected to justify investments in staff, cooling facilities and transport to support a more resilient supply chain.

Improving lives through socio-economic benefit

“We believe deeply in the Dairy Hub model, not only as a way to increase the availability of safe, nutritious milk, but also due to the social and economic benefits it can bring,” explained Cassio Simoes, Managing Director, Tetra Pak India. “There are so many livelihoods that depend on the dairy industry, and so many lives that can be improved by establishing strong relationships between smallholder farms and processing plants.”