Bengaluru: The transfer of a government official from the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) has triggered a political row in the state, with the BJP accusing the Congress government of trying to sabotage the state-run cooperative brand Nandini in favour of a private player.
The Siddaramaiah-led government issued orders to transfer KMF managing director MK Jagadish on 2 December, which the BJP has dubbed “the Nandini betrayal”.
The move to transfer Jagadish has been attributed to his initiative to launch a dosa and idli batter, which would pit Nandini directly against iD Fresh Foods, a nearly 20-year-old Bengaluru-based private player that commands a large share of this market.
In a post on X, state BJP chief BY Vijayendra said, “CM Siddaramaiah and DCM (Deputy Chief Minister DK) Shivakumar, hand-in-hand with the Kerala lobby, have sabotaged Nandini to protect private brands. A dedicated bureaucrat is being punished for doing his job well- unacceptable in this government! Who is behind this conspiracy? The people of Karnataka demand answers!”
The Nandini Betrayal
The same @INCKarnataka that spun a fake narrative about Amul taking over Nandini has now come to power-and is destroying Nandini from within!
KMF MD MK Jagadish, the driving force behind Nandini’s success, was abruptly transferred ahead of the launch of… pic.twitter.com/zXbW0Q8MEv
— Office of BY Vijayendra (@OfficeofBYV) December 5, 2024
Vijayendra’s references to a “Kerala lobby” or “private brand” appeared to be aimed at PC Musthafa-led iD Fresh Foods, one of the fastest growing players in the ready-to-use foods space.
ThePrint reached Mustafa and Jagadish for comment via phone calls. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
The management at the KMF told ThePrint that Jagadish’s transfer was “administrative” and had nothing to do with the launch–or withholding–of the idli and dosa batter.
One of the largest milk cooperatives in the country, Nandini has become a household name across several states and is entwined with the Kannada identity.
This was emphasised in the run-up to the 2023 assembly elections when the Congress used Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s proposal to merge Nandini with Gujarat-based Amul as an attack on the Kannada identity.
Nandini has been aggressively expanding its markets, launching in Delhi-NCR last month, pricing its products lower than its competitors to gain a foothold in the northern regions of the country.
In April, Nandini made the decision to sponsor the cricket teams of Scotland and Ireland in the 2024 T20 World Cup which garnered both praise and criticism.
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‘Didn’t want to risk our reputation for a third party’
LBP Bheema Naik, KMF chairman and Congress legislator from Hagaribommanahalli, said that the federation withheld the launch of the idli-dosa batter for over six months as it was not an in-house production and only a partnership with another player.
“We are a dairy cooperative. And the idli-dosa batter was a proposal to partner with another player for co-packing and we would get some share of the sales. If something goes wrong then our brand will get damaged. Why should we risk our reputation for a third party?” Naik told ThePrint.
He further emphasised this with reference to the stir in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
In September, several dairy brands were forced into the spotlight after Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu alleged that ghee adulterated with animal fat had been used when his predecessor Jagan Mohan Reddy was in power to prepare the laddu prasadam at the Tirupati shrine, one of the biggest and most revered Hindu temples in India.
At the time, Nandini officials said that had not taken part in the tender to supply ghee to the temple because it could not sell it at lower prices like other players as it would have compromised quality.
Days later, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams—a trust under the control of the Andhra Pradesh government that administers the shrine—announced that it would return to procuring only Nandini ghee to regain the trust of the devotees.
KMF Nandini is proud to announce that we are once again serving at Tirupati. The essence and purity of #KMFNandini Ghee can be experienced in the world-famous Tirumala Laddu Prasadam. 🛕✨ We extend our gratitude to the TTD management for their trust in KMF Nandini. 🤝 #Tirupati pic.twitter.com/HbtixJGuC6
— KMF Nandini (@kmfnandinimilk) September 4, 2024
Naik told ThePrint that the brand will stick to only products it can produce itself because lending the Nandini brand name to outside products would add several layers of risk.
He added that the cooperative would set up its own idli-dosa batter factory and would not lend its name to co-packing proposals. He added that he had never heard of iD Fresh Foods that Vijayendra was referring to.
iD Fresh Foods started in 2005 in Bengaluru and is valued at over $270 million, according to startup tracking platform Traxcn.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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