The Punjab State Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Limited popularly known as MILKFEED Punjab, came into existence

in 1973 with a twin objective of providing remunerative milk market to the Milk Producers in the State by value addition and marketing of produce on one hand and to provide technical inputs to the milk producers for enhancement of milk production on the other hand. Although the federation was registered much earlier, but it came to real self in the year 1983 when all the milk plants of the erstwhile Punjab Dairy Development Corporation Limited were handed over to Cooperative sector and the entire State was covered under Operation Flood to give the farmers a better deal and our valued customers better products. Today, when we look back, we think we have fulfilled the promise to some extent. The setup of the organization is a three tier system, Milk Producers Cooperative Societies at the village level, Milk Unions at District level and Federation as an Apex Body at State level. MILKFEED Punjab has continuously advanced towards its coveted objectives well defined in its byelaws.

GURDASPUR AMRITSAR HOSHIARPUR JALANDHAR FEROZEPUR ROPAR LUDHIANA CHANDIGARH FARIDKOT BATHINDA SANGRUR PATIALA

MILK PLANT, PATIALA was setup by THE PUNJAB STATE COOPERATIVE MILK PRODUCERS, FEDERATION Ltd. Popularly known as MILKFEED, which was financed by PUNJAB GOVERNMENT & NATIONAL DAIRY DEVELOPMENT BOARD(NDDB). It was formed with a view to integrate the production of milk & its procurement, processing & marketing in Punjab on ANAND PATTERN. The ANAND PATTERN is a world famous 4-tier system of dairy development in India. In foundation , there are a large number of small milk producers in villages, who are the members of the village level Co-operative Dairy/Societies. Such societies from a District Level Marketing Federation, which look into aspects of marketing of milk & milk products to the consumer at reasonable rates. The profits gained goes in giving social monitory benefits to the producers. The fourth component added recently is a Cluster of State Level Milk Marketing Federations called National Dairy Cooperative Dairy Federation of India (NCDFI). In this system, from bottom to top, there is full participation of the farmers who are producing milk.

MILK PLANT, PATILA is known as VERKA MILK PLANT", which is located at 5.5 kms away from Patiala city. It is situated in Hassanpur village on Sirhind Road. It is fully equipped with modern fluid milk plant facilities. The name of the organization is The Patiala District Milk Producers Union Limited, Patiala. About 21 acres of land for the present Milk Plant was purchased in JUNE 1982 & the foundation stone was laid in JULY 1983 by the then Chief Minister, S.Darbara Singh for the construction of Milk Plant at a cost of Rs.4.32 crores. Milk chilling facilities commenced on own premises in JANUARY 1985 & the plant in its present shape with a handling capacity of 1.0 lac liters of milk per day was inaugurated on 30th JULY 1988 by Dr. M.S. Gill, I.A.S> , the Additional Chief Secretary to Punjab Government.

The Board of Directors shall have 19 Directors, comprising:12 elected representatives of affiliated societies. Registrar, Co-op. Societies, Punjab, or his nominee. 1 nominee from Milkfeed. General Manager (CEO) of the plant , Ex-office Member/ Secretary with the responsibility of day management & operation. 1 nominee from National Dairy Development Board. 3 members nominated by Punjab Government.

Milk Procurement:- Milk Plant Patiala procured about 1,00,000

kgs of milk per day through 19 Milk routes in the Flush Season. The Plant is procuring milk from 494 villages by organizing village level Milk Producers Co-operative Societies

Animal Health Care & Other Technical Inputs:- In addition

to Organizing the remunerative Milk market system Through milk producers cooperative societies, Milk Plant is also providing regular health coverage by running 2 vet nary routes and 55 Artificial Insemination Service Stations at Society level.

Genetic Improvement of Milch Animals:- Under this, lay

inseminators are trained who are in-turn, doing Artificial Insemination at the door steps of Dairy Farmers.

Supply of Balanced Cattle Feed:- Special attention has been

paid to the supply of balanced cattle feed to the milk producers so as to enhance the milk production. Four types of cattle feeds are being supplied i.e. ISI Type, High Energy, Bye Pass Protein Feed & Buffalo super feed to meet the requirements of Milk Producers.

Supply of Improved Varieties of Fodder Seeds :- Cows

does not produces ample milk without ample fodder. Through research and seed-farms, Milkfed has worked to provide the farmers high yielding forages at low cost. Fodder Development activities initiated by Milkfed have created a good demand for improved fodder seeds in Punjab. Milkfed established its own seed processing unit in 1985, the unit automated and has the capacity to grade 16 million tons of fodder seed per day.

 Women Dairy Project:- Household level dairying the domain of women especially in small and marginal families. In view of this fact, Milkfed has undertaken Women Dairy Project in six Milk Unions namely Hoshiarpur, Ropar, Patiala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Amritsar with an objective to empower rural women in the field of dairy. This Programme is being implemented under Support to Training & Employment Programme (STEP) with the assistance of Government of India. Under this programme, 390 women societies with 19860 women beneficiary members will be organized.  Clean Milk Production Programme:- For improving quality of raw milk at Milk production level,8 Bulk Milk Coolers have been installed in the Plant and many more in pipe line. Besides, more than 1000 Automatic Milk Collection Stations have also been provided for bringing efficiency and total transparency in the system. Traditional manual method of milk testing at society level is being replaced with Electronic Milk Testers.

Quality Assurance Program:- Quality Assurance Program

(QAP) which is a part and parcel of Dairy Plant Improvement Program (DPIP) was taken up in Ludhiana Milk Union with the Technical guidance from NDDB. The main objective of the program is to improve efficiency of Plants coupled with loss management to bring down the cost of production, improve the quality of milk and milk products manufactured to ameliorate the general hygienic and housekeeping standards and above all to enable milk producers to get better price for their produce.  Automatic Milk Collection Stations:- These units are installed under quality assurance & to make milk procurement system transparent by creating awareness among the milk producers. Milk union Patiala has installed 45 AMCs in its milkshed area. We are able to win the confidence of milk producers by providing this system to the societies.

Today s consumer is not only well informed about the value of his money but he also makes sure about the qualitative of the product before deciding to purchase it. The phase of Liberalization & new technology has further intensified the fierce competition in the market. Hence, Milk Plant Patiala felt the necessity to give greater emphasis on the prime demanded of the consumers i.e. assured safe & quality milk products so as to maintain long-term relation with the consumers. As a mark of having achieved requisite quality standards, Milk Plant Patiala has already obtained ISO:9001 Quality Certification integrated with IS:15000(HACCP) CERTIFICATION from THE BEREAU of INDIAN STANDARDS w.e.f 25th October 2000. With these certifications, Milk Plant fully geared itself to compete its Milk & Milk products at global level in addition to market the same in the domestic market.

Milkfed has formulated company specifications for its milk & milk products to provide standard and quality of products to consumers.

MILK CHEESE & PANEER DRINKS GHEE & BUTTER ICE CREAM & SWEETS MILK POWDER FRESH PRODUCT PACKING

MILKFED is serving nationwide consumers through its net work of Regional offices and very strong Distribution channels. MILKFED markets a range variety of Verka products which include liquid milk, skimmed milk powder, whole milk powder, infant food, ghee, butter, cheese, lassi, SFM, Ice Cream, Malted food etc. etc. the annual turnover of MILKFED has crossed Rs.700 crores. Verka is a brand leader in milk powders particularly in northern eastern sectors and SMP marketed by MILKFED commands a premium price over powders manufactured by competitors who include multi-national as well as private trade and other Cooperative Federations. Now Verka is known for its quality,freshness,purity and of course its home made taste.

After winning faith of innumerable consumers,Verka did not stop. Changing times brought new trends, needs,tastes and hopes. Verka, dynamic as ever too acquired newer forms of adding values to milk and milk products. Apart from introducing new variants of UHT long shelf life milk and SFM in carry away bottles, Milkfed has a plan to add more variety of flavors in SFM. VERKA Ice Cream in different flavours and packaging s is available in the market. Many new products are in pipe line. In true sense, milk had never meant so much before

After carving a niche in the national market, Verka brands has reached in foreign market also. MILKFED has established its Ghee market in Middle East/ Verka Ghee reaches all the emirates and is available almost in all super market. The penetration is so deep that Verka ghee is available even in far off labour camps. In addition to Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Muscat, Australia and Japan, Verka Ghee is exported to Newzealand and Malaysia also.

On the basis of quality with efficient administration, MILKFED has not only established new mile stone of providing services to Dairy farmers but scaled new heights in delighting esteemed customers also. This has resulted into tremendous achievements in all fields.

The annual turnover of Milkfed which was Rs.653 crores in the year 2004-05 has hit the level of Rs.919 crores in the year 2007-08.

The paid-up equity of Milkfed as on 31.3.2008 was to the tune of Rs.46.86 crores which compromises of Rs.28.93 crores from the cooperative members and balance Rs.17.93 crores from State Government.

Milkfed strives to give better and remunerative [rice to the farmers to make dairy attractive and sustainable profession. Providing improved technical input services to farmers. Setting up big commercial farms. More stress on clean milk production programme. Rural women empowerment. Massive modernisation of progress and operations. Enforcement of stringent quality parameters. Strenghthing market base with specific stress on consumer market. Dynamic enhancement in Verka product mix.

Market is of two types: Urban Market  Rural Market In Verka Milk Plant urban market is done by a separate Marketing Department that is headed by Incharge Marketing under the overall guidance of Managing Director. He is assisted by Sales Supervisors, Milk Bar Manager, Milk Bar Assistant and Dairy Helper-cum-Cleaners. The Marketing starts with the product planning and ends with consumer s satisfaction. For this purpose, the Sales Supervisor regularly visit the market to study market needs & supervise the sale under the different market conditions.

a) City Supply:- Market milk supply was started with effect from 13th April, 1986. The Plant is supplying pasteurized & standardized milk packed in half liter poly packs through a market network of 674 agencies, 11 Milk Bars, given on lease & 4 Plant owned Bars in Patiala & in satellite towns like Rajpura, Sirhind, Bassi etc. The supply of milk has also been started in the markets of Uttrakhand & Haryana. The initiative taken by the plant, bore the fruit & the plant started generating instant cash. Milk is also supplied to Mother Dairy on Custom Packing basis. b) Sweetened Flavored Milk: - The plant introduced this milk during 1998. it has increased its production/marketing which improved the profitability. Plant has started the sale of this flavored milk not only within the state but also in metro cities like Delhi and neighboring states of Haryana & H.P. keeping in view the demand; the plant introduced the carry away bottles for sweetened milk in 2004.today with the addition of this packing size in its fleet the product, plant is selling a record production of its unit.

c) Paneer &curd: - To augment the financial position of the plant &with a view to diversity in the field of production, the plant has already introduced Production/Marketing of paneer(cheese) within Patiala as well as in Haryana. The sale of these two products is picking up day by day the plant in order to match the competition due to which the curd is now made of Double Toned Milk which earlier was made of Toned Milk. This as a result, raised the sale.

d) Cheese Plant: - A cheese Plant with a capacity of 30 MTs per month has been set up recently with a cost of Rs 1.46 Crores which has started functioning after obtaining a certificate from BEREAU of INDIAN STANDARS (BIS). The maiden consignment of processed cheese in 400 gm Tins has been flagged off on 26th May 1998 by the then Managing Director, S.Amrik Singh, MILKFED PUNJAB, Chandigarh, to the Ministry of Defense. Thereafter, the supply of Processed Cheese is regular to the Defense Forces & Civil Market all over the india.

The starting point for the effective rural marketing is the rural consumer and his product preferences. Studying the rural consumer closely, analysing his needs, life styles and standard of living will enable marketer to formulate effective marketing strategies. Elements for effective marketing strategies are: Product planning  Pricing  Positioning of product  Distribution channel planning  Promotional planning

Before entering into the production Process It would be important to understand the likely improvements and modifications required in the existing products. The production design,colour and quality ought to be planned as per demand and the taste of rural consumers. This would help make products acceptable to the rural population. For example, it has been observed that rural consumers relish Home made ghee which is prepared by heating butter obtained by churning curd. This process induces a peculiar attempt the ripening process for manufacturing ghee and should develop flavour as close to that of the Home made ghee . The packing of products should be strong enough to with stand rough handling. The size of packing should be smaller than retail pack so as to suit the affordability by the rural masses. A low unit price pack is desirable because of the low purchasing power of rural consumers.

Price is an important element of the marketing strategy. In rural areas the role of price becomes more significant because of low purchasing power of the rural masses. This factor should be considered while pricing the product. For example, the price of ghee must be lower than the cost of manufacturing ghee at home by milk producers, otherwise they would not find it attractive to buy from the market. Packing cost of the product should be kept as low as possible. After analysing the preferences of rural consumer a firm should be regosition its product in an appropriate way. The positioning of the product can be done in many ways. For example:a) Low price positioning b) Positioning on the sense of belongingness c) Quality leadership After analysing the product attributes and studying the rural habits, tastes and life style, one can come up with a proper strategy to position the milk products in rural areas.

Distribution is a major problem in rural marketeting. Inspite of the growing awareness about the potential of rural market, most marketing firms have failed to tap it because they could not develop an effective distribution system. The rural areas hardly have any agents, dealers or stockists. Milk plant has an advantage over the private enterprises because of their daily milk collection network of village level societies. While deciding on as to which media would reach the prospective rural buyers effectively, the socio-cultural background, the literacy level and their media preferences need to be studied. Rural milk producers generally perceive that converting milk into ghee at home is cheaper proposition. Personal contacts of village extension workers and secretary with the producer members also plays an important role. Milk van could be painted with advertisements of the brand of the milk plant to increase awareness. Because of literacy level in rural areas, media selection becomes a problem.

 To study the functioning of Verka Milk Plant.  To study the consumer satisfaction towards Verka Milk products.  To find out knowledge regarding the marketing strategies of Verka Milk products.  To get information about the awareness of Verka Milk products among consumers.  To study the brand image and media promotion strategies.

Scope of the study:- The study has been performed in the Verka Milk
Plant, Patiala.

Purpose & relevance of the study:- The purpose of my study is to find

the satisfaction of the consumers regarding the various product of Verka Milk plant.

Location & the period of the study:- The period of study/research

covers a period from 12th Feb. to 26th May 2009. This period includes both the time taken in the plant & in the survey to find the satisfaction of the consumers regarding the milk product.

USEFULNESS OF STUDY:- The study can be useful to the company as they

might come to know about the importance of brand image and marketing strategies in the Verka Milk Plant. The study can be of great importance to the company Sample Size:- I have covered 100 consumers, Patiala.

Types of Data:- I have used prefer as well as secondary data. Some data
has been taken from internet, some from MILKFED literature and some is gathered through questionnaire.

LIMITATIONS OF STUDY:1. The information provided by the workers is not definitely true. 2. The samples of consumers are not representative of the total workforce. 3. The consumers hesitate disclosing the true facts in order to secure their job. 4. There is no measure to check out whether the information provided by the consumers is correct or not. 5. The behavior of the consumers is not co-operative while giving information, so it is very time consuming.

1. Kind/sources of milk purchased? Packed Dairy Milkman

60 50 40 30 20 10 0

54

27 19

Packed

Dairy

Milkman

2. Which of the following would you prefer most? Quality Quantity Taste Price All
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Quantity Quality Taste Price All

4. Is Verka using any kind of media to promote its products & to make the consumer aware about its products ? Yes No

No

Yes

20

40

60

80

100

STRENGTHS
1 .Brand loyalty among the rural people for Verka products. 2. Good brand image of Verka products in the minds of rural people. 3. Faith on verka products by the rural farmers. 4. Rural people satisfaction with quality, price, quantity and availability.

WEAKNESS
1. Lack of proper advertisements by the plant , such as posters glow signs, etc. 2. Lack of proper distribution system in rural areas. 3. Lack of proper marketing network in rural areas as like in urban areas. 4.Very high rates of products such as bottle milk for rs.1 a/for 200 m

OPPORTUNITIES
1.Greatly improved expert potential for milk products of western as well as traditional type. 2.Proper utilization of available resources to decrease per unit cost. 3.By product utilisation for import substitution. 4.Growing demand for milk and milk products.

THREATS
1.Introduction of foreign products in India market. 2.Poor quality of milk . 3.The liberlisation of Diary Industry is likely to be exploited by multinationals. They will be interested in manufacturing milk products which yield high profits . It will create milk shortage in the country adversely affecting the consumers. 4.Export of quality feed under the liberalisation policy.

SUGGESTIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

Though the survey revealed that rural people like Verka s products to a great extent and there is more demand of Verka brand but then also some people want change in its price, quality , quantity and some in availability So, there were some suggestions given by the people who are summed up as follow:a) Reduction in price:Generally, people are not satisfied with the prices of Verka products they feel the products are bit expensive. Thus, to satisfy its customers, price should be reduced to some extent b) Distribution System should be improved:People of rural area are not satisfied with the distribution system. So, distribution system should be improved in rural areas. C) Lack of Advertisement:- Rural people have also complained about the advertisement of the brand Verka. It should be made popular through more or more advertisements and schemes so as to attract people of all age groups. More hoardings should be put in villages and with the help of word of mouth more awareness about products should be given .