Top Dairy Companies in India – In India, the dairy companies evolution started with the White Revolution or Operation Flood, initiated by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). The main motto was to increase the milk production and linking rural milk business to urban markets.
Dairy companies are involved in the production, processing and distribution of dairy products like cheese, yogurt, butter, milk, ice cream and other dairy items.
Dairy products like milk and butter are not only a good source of protein and other nutritions, but they also contain Vitamin B12, Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin D, Magnesium, Phosphorus, and other essential micro-nutrients.
Dairy products are an essential part of everyday diet due to their nutritional value and taste. Here I have listed some of the Top Dairy Companies in India.
Top Dairy Companies in India
Mother Dairy
It’s a popular milk and dairy products producing company. Mother Dairy was founded in the year 1974 with its headquarters located in Noida, India. Mother Dairy was started as an initiative under Operation Flood to make India a milk sufficient nation.
The company produces, markets and sells products like ice cream, paneer, ghee, cheese, butter, packed milk, milk powder, curd (dahi), lassi, probiotic drink, chocolates, etc.
Paras Dairy
The company was founded in the year 1986 as VRS Foods Ltd. Today the company is famous with the name Paras Dairy with its registered office located in Delhi, India.
The company deals with many diary products like ghee, milk, flavoured milk, dahi (curd), ghee, paneer, kheer, coconut milk, milk shake, skimmed milk, tonned milk, pasteurized milk, double tonned milk, etc.
Amul
Amul is an Indian multinational dairy company. It was founded in the year 1946 with its headquarters in Gujarat, India. Today this dairy company is operated by Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF).
The company has many products like milk, cheese, paneer, dahi, beverage, ice cream, milk powder, ghee, chocolates, milk cream, bakery products, etc. Amul products are loved by people of every age group. The brand is also in the list of Top 10 Dairy Companies in India.
Nandini Milk
Nandini Milk is a popular milk and dairy products brand in South India. The brand started its business at a small scale in Karnataka, India. Nandini was founded as Karnataka Dairy Development Corporation (KDDC). Today it is owned by Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF).
Nandini has many milk products like double toned milk, pasteurised toned milk, homogenised cow pure milk, full cream milk, ghee, butter, paneer, milk sweets, milk powder, chocolates, etc.
Bhagirathi Milk
This brand comes under the parent organization name Bhagirathi Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union Ltd. which was established in the year 1974. The brand was started under the Operation Flood programme.
This dairy brand is popular in Eastern India specially in West Bengal. This dairy brand has wide range of products like toned milk, double toned milk, standardized milk, paneer, cow milk, ghee, lassi, curd (yogurt), etc.
Red Cow Milk
Red Cow is also a popular dairy products brand in Eastern Part of India including West Bengal. The brand started its journey in the year 1997. Today it has wholesome dairy products like milk, lassi, dahi (yogurt), paneer, flavoured milk, ice cream, rasogolla, gulabjamun, and many more. Red Cow Dairy is also in the list of Best Dairy Companies in India.
Parag Milk
The brand manufactures, markets and sells milk and dairy products. Parag Milk was founded in the year 1992 with its headquarters in Mumbai, India. The brand is popularly known for manufacturing cheese and cow ghee.
The brand also has other dairy products too like paneer, butter, dairy whitener, skim milk powder, whole milk powder, cheese spreads, gulab jamun mix, etc.
Milma
Milma is also a popular dairy company which was founded in the year 1980 with its headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Its official name is Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation and is owned by Government of Kerala.
Milma is known for producing vitamin A enriched milk and other dailry products including mango drinks. Milma is also in the list of Top Dairy Companies in India.
Milma also produces toned milk, rich milk, curd, ghee, butter, biriyani ghee, cheese, paneer, milk toffee, milk peda sweets, coconut burfi, ghee biscuit, butter cookies, lassi, yoghurt, ghee cake, flavoured milk, etc.
Lactalis
It’s a French multinational dairy products company. It was founded in the year 1933 with its headquarters in Laval, France. It’s actually a family owned business which was started in 1930 at France.
The brand was formerly known as Besnier S.A. Lactalis also owns popular dairy brands like Siggi’s Dairy, Parmalat, Galbani, Lactel, Kraft, Bridel, Santal, Flory, Stonyfield Farm, Rachel’s Organic and Skanemejerier.
Lactalis is the 2nd largest food products group in France. The company has a wide range of products like cheese, milk, butter, cream, etc.
Lactalis subsidiary in India is Tirumala Dairy, which is a leading dairy company in south India. It operates its business in states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Lactalis acquired Tirumala Dairy in the year 2014. Tirumala Dairy is also in the list of Top Milk Companies in India.
Nestle
It’s a globally popular Swiss multinational food and beverage processing company. The company was founded in the year 1866 with its headquarters in Switzerland.
Nestle deals with many products like baby foods, cereals, bottled water, coffee, chocolates, dairy items, drinks, culinary, chilled & frozen food, ice cream, healthcare nutrition, and other beverages. Nestle is also in the list of Best Dairy Companies in India.
Danone
Danone is a multinational food products company which is popular in countries like France, Spain and U.S. The company was founded in 1919 in Barcelona, Spain. The company headquarters is located in Paris, France.
Danone is popularly known as a manufacturer and producer of dairy and nutritional products. The company’s major revenue comes from dairy products. The company also has other products like plant based products, packaged water, daily nutrition products, etc. Today Danone is operating in more than 130 countries across the globe.
Hatsun Agro
Hatsun Agro is a leading Indian private sector dairy company. The company was founded in the year 1970 with its headquarters in Chennai, India. By the year 2016, the company turned to be a billion dollar company.
Hatsun Agro was also awarded as the ‘Fastest Growing Asian Dairy Company’. The company deals with many dairy products like curd, milk, paneer, ghee, ice creams, etc.
Dudhsagar Dairy
Dudhsagar Dairy was founded in 1963 as Mehsana District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union. Dudhsagar Dairy is a subsidiary of Amul and is a division of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (Gujarat government). The brand is also in the list of Top Dairy Companies in India.
Dudhsagar’s products are also sold under the brand name of Amul and Sagar. Some of the popular products of Dudhsagar are butter milk, pasteurized liquid milk, skim milk, butter, whole milk, ghee, dahi (curd), shrikhand, dairy whitener, flavored milk, etc.
Fonterra
It’s a New Zealand based multinational publicly traded dairy company. The company was founded in the year 2001 with its headquarters located in Auckland, New Zealand.
The company exports approx. 30% of world’s dairy products. Some of its popular products are everyday dairy products, yogurt, cheese, ice creams, ice coffee, flavoured milk, probiotic yogurt, etc. The company is famous in countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Chile, Brazil, and Australia.
Arla Foods
It’s a Danish multinational dairy products company. The company was founded in the year 2000 with its headquarters in Denmark.
Arla Foods comes in the list of Top 15 organic dairy producers in the world which is owned by more than 9900 farmers. They all are associated as a dairy co-operative.
Arla Foods also has other products too like wellness nutrition, sports nutrition, medical nutrition, bakery products, etc.
Saputo Dairy
Saputo is a popular Canadian dairy products company which produces, markets and distributes wide range of dairy products like cheese, milk, cream products and other dairy ingredients.
The company was founded in the year 1954 and its headquarters is located in Montreal, Canada. Saputo is also in the list of Top Dairy Companies in India.
The brand produces a variety of dairy products like ice cream mixes, whipping cream, creamers, iced coffee, sour cream, cottage cheese, etc. The brand produces special cheese types like provolone, ricotta, parmesan, goat cheese and romano.
Some of the popular brands under Saputo are Dairystar, Dragone, Friendship Dairies, Frigo Cheese, Great Midwest, Nikos Feta, Lorraine, Montchevre, Salemville, Vitalite, Wensleydale, Cathedral City, Woolwich Goat Dairy, and many others.
