CONSUMER SATISFATION OF MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS OF MILMA

INTRODUCTION
Milk is an opaque white liquid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals
(including monotremes). It provides the primary source of nutrition for newborns
before they are able to digest other types of food. The early lactation milk is
known as colostrum and carries the mother s antibodie to the baby. The exact comp
onent of rawmilk varies by species, but it contains significant amounts of satur
ated fat, protein and calcium as well as vitamin C.
In biblical times, the ideal home was in a land flowing in milk and honey . In Indi
a, the Hindu cultures demand the cow a sacred animal not to be killed. But the a
ge of worship of cow is gone; it is now a biological machine. The rate of child
death in India is about 40 percent and nearly 10 lakh children are dying due o u
nder nourishment. Milk contains all the important ingredients like lactose, prot
ein, calcium and riboflavin, which help to overcome under nourishment and thus r
educe child death rate. The milk revolution in India was in the early 1950 s stret
ching to a period of twenty years. Technically milk is lacteal secretion which i
s free of colostrums and it contain on average 83.4 percent water, 6.5 percent f
act, 4.9 percent lactose, 4 percent protein,0.7 percent ash and 0.5 percent vita
mins. It is believed that milk contains approximately thirteen times as much pho
sphorous, 5 times much potassium but only one-seventh chloride as does blood pla
sma. About 85 percent of the world s human population prefers foodstuff of animal
origin in the form of milk and meat in their regular diet.
Though milk has high nutritive value, it is often seen that it is not within the
research of an average Indian. Therefore the overall picture in the national se
nse is very grim. However it is very significant to note that about 85-86 percen
t of the families in India do not have the means to consume milk even for a day
(protein association of India).
Further it is a very well known fact that the lack of adequate milk consumption
makes the human body environment very fertile for the growth and development of
various diseases. This, in the long run, affects the national health preservatio
n and development programs.
Milma is an organization concerned with procurement, processing and marketing of
milk and milk products. It is a well known source of milk in Kerala state and e
njoys a monopoly status in the state, especially in Trivandrum. This project wor
k is a study on the consumer satisfaction of Milma milk in Trivandrum District.
Objectives of the study

To
To
To
To

find
know
know
find

the
the
the
out

acceptability of the product.

reasons for consumers switching over to competitors product.
level of consumers satisfaction of the product.
the factor influencing purchase decision.

Methodology
Collect the data from the consumers through questionnaires.
Limitations of the study
Due to the short span of time allotted for this project work intense study was n
ot possible.
Since people working in the department were dealing with tight schedules of work
, the data collection was delayed. It was difficult to collect information from
the consumers in Trivandrum District.

2.1 Industry profile

Dairy Industry in India
In 1998, India achieved the distinction of becoming the world s largest milk produ
cer. Milk production the year 2000 was 81 million tons representing 14% of the w
orld production. In the year 2000 India s milk production grew almost 4.2% as agai
nst the world s average growth of less than 1%. India is well set to retain its po
sition as he world s top milk producers.
Started in 1970, the 3 phases of operation flood have pushed India s milk producti
on from 21 million tons to 81 million tons in 2000. According to the World Bank
impact study, Rs 200 crores invested in the programme in 1981 returned s 24,000
crores per year between1985-1995. It may be noted that the growth in milk has su
rpassed the growth in grains and cereals and today milk is India s number one farm
produce worth Rs.100000 crores annually. It has had tremendous impact on the ru
ral sector and has proven blessing for small and marginal farmers and landless l
aborers. Undoubtedly milk is the most powerful tool available to us for fighting
poverty.
India has almost 90 millions milk animals. As illustrated in the table below 54%
of India s milk comes from the buffalo only 42% comes from the cow as against wor
ld s average of 85%. This matter has significance for exports since the world s pref
erence is for product made from cow s milk.
Break up of milk production by Species
MILK TYPE INDIA WORLD
BUFFALO MILK 54 % 11.6 %
COW MILK 42 % 85 %
OTHERS 4 % 3.4 %
In spite of being the world s largest milk producer, India s milk processing industr
y is not very large. Only 12% of milk is delivered to dairies as the world avera
ge of 70%. In certain countries like New Zealand almost 98% of milk production i
s processed. Bulk of Indian milk is utilized for drinking or in the unorganized
sector for making sweets or other traditional products.
The organized sector processing industry can be divided in to three segments:
a) Government/Semi-Government
b) Co-operatives
c) Private sector
With the exception of a few units the processing industry is largely involved ei
ther in liquid pasteurized milk of conversion of milk to milk powder and ghee. V
alue addition, consequently, is low. Instead of producing value added products t
he domestic processors continue to fight for a share of reducing domestic market
of milk powders for reconstitution. Most domestic processors do not have the qu
ality or the marketing knowledge to access the international markets.
Role of competitors in the milk market
Majority of the milk market remains with co-operatives which were formed under o
peration flood and over India. The milk marketing federation and its affiliated
districts milk Unions control majority of milk market in the organized sector.
Major brands under Co-operative Umbrella are

Milma
Verka
Nandini
Vijaya
Aavin
Parag
Mother dairy etc.

These are few major companies which are in the forefront of dairy product market
ing such as Britania, Nestle, Cadbury s etc. New international players such as Anc
hor, Fonteero, Compina, Landolakes, etc are expected to enter the Indian marker
very soon either directly or through joint ventures. The change in retail format
s and opening of big retail malls like Reliance, Bharains wall mart, Trinetra et
c has started the concept of store branding.
Kerala Market
Coming to Kerala Milma stalls enjoys a near monopoly in the organized milk marke
ting. However there are 35-40 brands of packaged milk being sold in Kerala. Some
of the brands are Penta, Cowma, Balaji, Kairali, Royal, Ambadi, Arogya, Omgo, T
aste milk etc. Few charitable organizations PDDP, Malanadu etc are also having t
heir presence in the milk marker. Most of the private brands of milk are bringin
g milk from other states and sell it in Kerala.
Milma is the brand name of Kerala co-operative milk marketing federation Ltd (KC
MMF), the apex co-operative of three Regional Unions viz, Thiruvanathapuram Regi
onal Unions, Ernakulam Regional Union, and Malabar Regional Union. KCMMF was set
up in 1980 to implement the popular operation flood project-ll in Kerala. The o
bjective of Milma is to provide an assured market for the milk produced by the r
ural milk producers and at the same time provide wholesome, clean and nutritious
milk and milk product to the urban consumers fully eliminating the middlemen in
the dairy sector, thereby providing maximum returns to its farmers.
For the rural community of the country comprising of 74000 villages and over 90
lakh Dairy farmers, milk has become a commodity that has helped them to build a
new life and provide stable income. Milma believes in developing rural village c
ommunity which only helps to develop a strong nation. In its endeavor to meet th
e ever increasing consumer demand, Milma strives to provide quality products at
competitive price and at the same time ensures better remuneration to the dairy
farmers of the state.
Thiruvananthapuram Regional Co-operative Milk Producers Union (TRCMPU) covers th
e southers most district of the state viz Thiruvananthapuram, kollam, Aleppey an
d Pathanamthitta. TRCMPU operates three moderns dairies which are ISO certified
and poised to acquire HACCP Certification.
Though there are large number of brands the share of each of these brands are to
o small. Altogether these private brands sell around three lakhs liters of milk
per day. In the dairy product category all the multinational brands are availabl
e.
The total estimated milk consumption in the state is around 85 lakh liters per d
ay. The organized sector caters to approximately 13 lakh liters per day. The rem
aining is completely under un-organized sector especially house-hold sales, own
consumptions, sale by cycle vendors etc.
2.2 Organisation Profile
Milma is an oganisation concerned with the procurement, processing and marketing

of milk and milk products. It is a well knows source of milk in Kerala state an
d enjoys a monopoly status in the state especially in Trivandrum. Marketing has
its own origins in the fact that humans are creatures of needs and wants. Since
may products can satisfy a given need, product choice is guided by the concept o
f values, cost and satisfaction. A thorough study of consumers and non-consumers
of Milma reveals that people today are selective in their attitudes towards the
purchasing of even basic necessities. The high literacy rate has made the major
ity of the consumers aware both the good and bad effects of each and every produ
ct.
Milk, during early times was considered as a rich man s product. But now situation
has changed and every people irrespective of their income include milk in their
daily diet. As the consumption increased, people begun to think about the quali
ty, availability, type of packaging etc of the milk they consumed. Now the situa
tion is such that there is a tough competition in the milk industry, so a study
will throw light in to the various aspects of consumer behavior towards milk and
milk market and also describe various features of milk market. The survey of co
nsumers clarifies what they actually need, what are their complaints, what they
expect from Milma etc. This study was conducted at the Milma Plant Ambalathara.
MILMA S MISSION
Farmers prosperity through Consumer satisfaction .
MILMA S OBJECTIVES
To channelise marketable surplus milk from the rural areas to urban deficit area
s to maximize the returns to the producer and provide quality milk and milk prod
ucts to the consumers.
To carryout activities for promoting production, procurement, processing and mar
keting of milk and milk product for economic development of farming community.
To build-up a farming community.
To provide constant market and stable price to the dairy farmers for their produ
ce
NETWORK OF MILMA
The motto of co-operation of the people, by the people and for the people is the f
oundation of the three tier system followed by the organization. At the village le
vel we have the village milk co-operative societies which have the local milk pr
oducers as its members. These villages co-operatives unit at the regional level
and from Regional Co-operative unit at the regional level and from Regional Co-o
perative Milk Producers Unions. These Unions are federated at the state level to
form State Federation namely Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (KCM
MF).
ANAND MODEL
During sixties in Anand (Kaira district, Gujarat) thousands of milk producers un
ited together on co-operative lines with an integrated approach to production, p
rocurement, processing and marketing of milk. This resulted in the formation of
farmer owned, AMUL (Anand Milk Producers Union Ltd), which is a success story on
the dairy scene in India.
Over the years this evolved itself into a model based on self rule by farmers en
suring maximum return to them. This model came to be known as ANAND PATTERN . The A
nand pattern is a three tier structure consisting of: Village level primary co-operative societies called APCOS (Anand Pattern Co-oper

ative Societies).
District/Regional Co-operative Milk Producers Unions and
State Level Milk Marketing Federation.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Side by side with development of milk procurement and sale, Milma has also conce
ntrated on infra structural development with financial assistance from the Natio
nal Dairy Development Board. As on date, there are ten milk processing plants wi
th a combined processing capacity of 9.90 lakhs litres per day with further expa
nsion envisaged over the next couple of years and 14 milk chilling plants scatte
red across the state. A milk powder plant is set up at Aleppey with a capacity f
or production of 10 MT milk powder per day. Apart from there are two cattle feed
plants one at Pattanakkad and other one at Malampuzha the combined capacity of
them is 500 TPD. The cattle feed manufactured in these plants are well accepted
in the market. There is a centralized training to society staff, farmers and emp
loyees of Milma.
SUPPORT STRUCTURES
The major reason for the popularity of operation flood has become the Package Dea
l offered. The motto of providing all necessary facilities under one roof or the
single window system has reinstated the faith that the farming in general and Ke
rala farmers in particular had in the Dairying.
The packages deal offered includes;
Organizational structure
Milma is having a three tier structure with
Villae level Primary Co-operative Societies called APCOS.
Regional Co-operative Milk Producers Unions (TRCMPU, ERCMPU, and MRCMPU) at Triv
andrum, Ernakulam and Calicut.
State level Milk Marketing Federation (KCMMF).
MILMA PRODUCTS
The name of MILMA and its motto your health is our concern has become synonymous wit
h assured quality. This is amply proved by fact of all its product mainly Ghee,
selling solely under the trade name of MILMA , Milma has a range of products from w
holesome pasteurized milk to pure ghee, creamy butter, nourishing sterilized fla
voured milk and ice-creams. All the products strictly adhere to the PFA Rules an
d are sent to the market only after stringent quality checks. In the market Milm
a have built up a consumer orientation, which few other organizations can match.
A marketing chain consisting of near 8000 outlets across the state ensures acce
ssibility of Milma s products to one and all. Milma is commitment to the quality o
f milk that they deliver starts right at the doorsteps of the village producer.
The Milma Ambalathara plant is producing the following products.
v Milk
Milma provides pasteurized milk free from adulterants and harmful chemicals whic
h is pure and safe. To meet the consumer s four variants of milk are marketed by
TRCMPU:
Milma smart -: For the health conscious, Milma smart is the low cholesterol milk
have 15% fat and 9.0% SNF which is ideal for heart patients and senior citizens
.
Toned Milk -: The milk which the consumers are more accustomed to Milma toned mi
lk is having 3% fat and 8.5% SNF.

 Milma Jersy -: Another variant with 3.5% fat and 8.5% SNF, Milma jersey is ideal
for making tea, coffee and delicious payasams.
Milma Rich Plus -: The high energy milk, Milma rich plus is ideal for growing ch
ildren and has 3.8% fat and 9% SNF.
v Ghee
Made from cow s milk, the golden colour Milma ghee which is Agmark Certified is fa
mous for its aroma and taste. Available in consumers packs of 50ml, 100ml, 200ml
, 500ml, 1 ltr, 2 ltr, and 5 ltr PET Jars.
v Butter
With its natural golden colour, Milma butter is available in 100g and 500g with
salted as well as unsalted packs.
v Milcream
The popular ice cream manufactured by TRCMPU, milcream is made from Dairy fresh
cream and using the state of the art technology and comes in variety of flavours
like vanilla, pinapple, strawberry, mango etc to name a few. Apart from these,
Milma cassata, chocobar, milcream delite, kulfi, pre packed cone etc are also ma
nufactured at Thiruvananthapuram Dairy.
v Curd
Ideal for home use and marriaes, Milma curd is available in 500g packings.
v Sambaram
Kerala s traditional thirst quencher, sambaram is made from curd using natural ing
redients like ginger, chilly, curry leaves and salt. Free from any king of artif
icial flavours, a packet of Milma sambaram can rejudenate our body.
v Peda
A milk based sweet made from concentrated milk, Milma peda is available in 18g,
400g packs.
v Paneer
Pure vegetarian s meat, Milma paneer is a fast growing milk product made by coagul
ating milk and is available in 100g and 1kg packings.
v Dairy Whitener
Milma Dairy Whitener is widely used to prepare tea, coffee, delicious curd and i
s available in 200g and 500g packings.
v Milk Lolly
Children s favourate milk lolly is made from pasteurished milk with added sugar an
d avialble in different flavours.
v Chocolate
The new product of Milma very much popular among the youngsters. Available in 5
different variants as per the consumer preference milk beats is the milk based c
hocolate, white choco beats is chocolate bar. Milma Krispy is chocomass coated w
ith water biscuit and milky thunder is tasty enerty bar enrobed with creamy milk

chocomass. Chocochat is caramel boughat coated with creamy milk chocomass.

v Milma Soda
Popularly knows as 1.2E: Milma soda is UV sterilized and available in easy carry
home packs of 500ml and 1.5 ltr PET bottles.
v Milma Mango
Manufactured using UHT Technology, Milma mango is available in 200ml tetra packs
as well as 500 ml and 1 ltr bottles.
v Milma Plus
Sterilized flavoured milk which is available in five different flavours in 200ml
single service glass bottle.
v Ice Candy
Water based lolly hygienically made using pasteurized water and safe to consume.
v Yoghurt
Fermented milk product plain as well as flavoured Milma yoghurt is available in
100ml packing. Rich source of lactobacillus bacteria required in stomach and int
estine.
v Shrikhand
Indigenous milk product semisoft sweetish/sour whole milk product prepared from
lactic fermented curd.
v Milma Drinking Water
Targeting the commuters, Milma drinking water is available in 1ltre packing.
v Palada Mix
Ready made payasam milk ideal for making delicious payasams. Milma palada mix is
available in 200g packings.
Milma always ofter the best to the consumers through a variety of products.
When you buy a Milma product, you are contributing to the rural economy of the c
ountry which helps to build a stable foundation for the development of our natio
n.
Milma s Social Responsibility
Milma being a farmer s organization catering to lakhs of milk consumers in the sta
te has the twin responsibility of ensuring regular market and reasonable price t
o the milk purchased by the farmers and ensuring availability to lakhs of consum
ers in the state at reasonable price. Milma has successfully carrying out this s
ocial responsibility in the last few decades.
Plan of Milma
Milma s dream is to ensure prosperity through milk be it for the producer or for t
he consumer. Milma look forward t a bright future for this farmers organization
and reiterate. Milma s resolve to strive relentlessly to make this a full fledged
co-operatives of the farmers who would grow along with the organization.

Literature Review
Topic of study
Consumer satisfaction an overview
Whether the buyer is satisfied after purchase depends on the office performance
in relation to the buyers expectations. In general satisfaction is a persons fee
ling of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a product perceived
performance in relation to his/her expectations.
As this definition makes clear, satisfaction is a function of received performan
ce and expectation. If the performance falls short of expectations the consumer
is dissatisfied. If the performance matches the expectations, the consumer is sa
tisfied. If the performance exceeds expectations the customer is highly satisfie
d or delighted.
Many companies are aiming for satisfaction because customers who are just satisf
ied still find it easy to switch when a better offer comes along. Those who are
highly satisfied are much less ready to switch. High satisfaction or delight cre
ates an emotional affinity with the brand, not just a rational preference. The r
esult is high customer loyalty. For consumer centered companies consumer satisfa
ction is both a goal and a marketing tool. Companies that achieve high consumer
satisfaction rating make sure that their target market knows it.
Buying motives
A person has many needs at a given time. Some needs are biogenic need while some
others are psychogenesis.
Biogenic needs: Needs which arise from psychological state of tension like hunge
r, discomfortable etc.
Psychogenic: Needs, which arise from psychological state of tension like need fo
r recognition, esteem, belongingness etc.
A need becomes a motive when it is aroused to a sufficient level of intensity. S
o a motive can be defined as a need that is sufficiently pressing to drive the pe
rson to act motive which induce a person to purchase a product are called buying
motives .
Generally individuals are motivated to buy because of external and internal moti
ve. External motives are outside one for eg. Income, culture, occupation etc. In
ternal motives are those which originated in the mind of people. They may be eit
her psychogenic and psychogenic.
Buying motives can be classified as
Ecorelated motives: For example the desire for a better self image or a desire f
or a state among one s peers.
Emotional motives: For example attraction for opposite sex, love and affection f
or others, social assistance, satisfaction of pride.
Rational motives: motives that generate because the feeling of gaining economic,
efficiency and depended.
Patronage motives: The motives, which explain why a consumer purchases a product

only from one seller. Important patronage motives are price, location, quality,
service etc.
The motives which express why consumers purchase the product only from one selle
r.
Buying motives can be explained on the basis of the following theory of motivati
on.
1, Maslow s need hierarchy theory
a,
b,
c,
d,
e,

Psychological need(food, water)

Security and safety needs(security & protection)
Social needs(sense of belongings, love)
Esteem needs(self esteem, recognition)
Self actualization need(self development & realization)

2, Herzberg two factor theory

Dissatisfier s: That goes dissatisfaction and satisfiers that goes satisfaction.
Tools for measuring consumer satisfaction
1, Complaint and suggestion system
A consumer centered organization makes it easy for its consumers to delivery sug
gestions and complaints. This information on flow provides the company with man
good ideas and enables than to act more rapidly to the resource problems.
2, Consumer satisfaction surveys
Certain consumers cannot use complaint cell a measure of consumer satisfaction.
Responsive consumers obtained a direct measure of consumer satisfaction by condu
cting periodic surveys.
3, Ghost shopping
Companies can hire persons to post as potential buyers to report their finding o
n strong and week points, the experiences in being company and competitive produ
cts.
4, Cost customer analysis
Customer should contact who have stopped buying or who have switched to other su
pplies to learn why this happened.
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
PROCESSING AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
The data after collection has to be processed and analysed in accordance with th
e out line laid down for the purpose at the time of developing the research plan
. This is essential for a scientific study and for ensuring that we have all ele
vant data for making contemplated comparison and analysis. The term analysis ref
ers to the computation of certain measures along with searching from palters of
selection ship that exist among data groups.
Interpretation
After collecting and analyzing the data, the researcher has to accomplish the ta

sk of drawing inferences followed report writing through interpretation the rese

archer ca expose relations and processes that underlie his findings interpretati
on refers to the task of drawing inferences the collected facts after an analyti
cal study.
Percentage of Analysis
In this method all the given data is converted to percentage and is represented
in the form of chart diagram. This method helps in knowing the ups and down of d
ata respectively. The formula for calculating percentage is
Percentage= (No. of respondents/Total no. of respondents) *100
FINDINGS
1, A majority of the respondents are those who have been using MILMA products fo
r more than 6 years.
2, More than half of the respondents (54%) are those who consume MILMA products
daily.
3, Most of the consumers seek information through word of mouth.
4, Advertising influence consumers in their purchase decision moderately.
5, Price is an important factor which influences consumers in preferring MILMA p
roducts.
6, Consumers provide utmost importance to quality in their buying preference.
7, More than 65% of the consumers prefer MILMA because of its brand image.
8, Packing is an important criteria preferred by the consumers in purchase of MI
LMA products.
9, A large number of respondents (60%) prefer MILMA products due to its easy ava
ilability.
10, Most of the consumers prefer mainly MILMA stall and bakery for their purchas
es and super markets and provision shops are also preferred.
11, Consumers select the place of purchase depending on the availability of prod
ucts, easy to purchase, cleanliness of shop and promotional activities.
12, Majority of the respondents are satisfied with the current mode of distribut
ion of MILMA products.
13, Consumers are satisfied with the overall services offered by MILMA.
CONCLUSION
MILMA is the first product and inimitable organization, which created a revoluti
on in procurement, processing, marketing and distribution of pure milk in the st
ate.
Your health our concern has now become a synonym for assured quality. The na
me MILMA is familiar with each and every house in Kerala.
For retaining potential consumers of MILMA it is necessary to identify those fac
tors which motivate consumers in purchase of MILMA products. From the study made
it is found that quality and brand images are important aspects which motivate
consumers to buy MILMA products. The easy availability of MILMA products is an a
dded advantage. More consumer awareness can be created through print and visual
media. And to retain the potential consumers, their changing needs and preferenc
es should be continually monitored and MILMA should be able to supply commoditie
s according to the expectations of the consumers.
SUGGESSTIONS
1, The MILMA products should be made available to the ultimate consumers at the
same quality at which they are produced.
2, Make more provision to increase the commission for retailers so that they wil
l be motivated to sell more MILMA products.
3, Make provision to improve the services of middleman which will ultimately res
ult in more consumer satisfaction.

4, Create more awareness about MILMA products through print and visual media.
5, As the completion is very high in the market the marketing departments should
take active measures to retain its potential consumers.
6, As consumer preference and taste fluctuate from time to time, a market analys
is should be carried out at regular intervals to monitor the changing needs and
taste of the consumers.
7, More MILMA stall should be set up to reduce the dependency on retailers.
BIBLOGRAPHY
BOOKS
1, C.R.Kothari, Research Methodology, New Age International Publishers, New Delh
i 2004.
2, M.N.Brose, Reseatch Methodology, Shree Niwas Publications, Jaipur, 2004.
WEBSITES
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,

www.soho.org
www.milma.com
www.kcmf.com
www.citehr.com
www.smallbusinesssuccess.biz
www.learnmarketing.net