This summer, Aavin is selling more ice cream than usual thanks to the arrival of its Madurai dairy unit. Around 1.5 lakh ice creams are being sold every day across the state, out of which one lakh is sold only in and around the city.
“Along with the sale of milk, we are seeing an increase in the sales of dairy products, mainly ice cream. Madurai Dairy, which was inaugurated by Chief Minister MK Stalin, has added 50,000 ice cream pieces daily. To ensure availability at all outlets, vans with deep freezer facilities have been hired to take the ice cream to different locations depending on the demand,” said an official source at Aavin, the popular brand of Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation.
Aavin’s most popular ice cream product is Kulfi, manufactured in seven unions including Tirunelveli, Krishnagiri, Madurai, Villupuram and Virudhunagar. “These unions have a combined capacity of around 40,000 pieces per shift, and if need be, the number can be increased as per the demand. Around 10,000-15,000 kulfi pieces are sold daily. Even in the rainy season, about 7,000 pieces are sold. This remains our flagship product, and we have a longer version as well,” said another source.
Apart from Kulfi, Rs 10 small cups and Chocobars in Vanilla, Strawberry and Mango flavors are also popular among consumers.
The milk major is procuring 34.5 lakh liters of milk per day, out of which 3.5 lakh liters is consumed by the societies itself and 28.5 lakh liters is sold as milk per day. “We saw an increase in the sale of milk after the government reduced its prices. There has been an increase of 1.5 lakh liters in procurement at this time as compared to last year. Flush season will start in late May and June, flush season through July will be when we can build on butter and skimmed milk powder stock,” explained another source.