Highlights
- Kisaan Dairy processes milk in their plant at Shepparton
- Pasteurised cream-on-top milk is delivered to the doorsteps of customers
- Only Melbourne's northern and western suburbs are being serviced at the moment
With coronavirus-related limits put on the number of items people can buy in supermarkets, and cancellation of online orders except for those vulnerable and isolated, staple foods like milk can often cause people to rush to the shops every other day. This is especially true for large families, particularly with children.
To address this market gap, Kisaan Dairy, a milk processing plant based in Shepparton, some 200 km from Melbourne, has changed track from supplying milk to restaurants and Indian sweet shops to making this much-loved staple available to Indian families in the state’s capital.
Run by two friends, Surinder Singh and Jaspreet Singh, this dairy business procures fresh milk from dairy farms in and around Shepparton and processes it in their plant locally.
Unhomogenised pasteurised milk is then delivered twice a week to customers in Melbourne.
“Before coronavirus-related restrictions, we were focussed on supplying large quantities of milk to mainly Indian restaurants and mithai (Indian sweets) shops in Melbourne’s north and west like Wallan, Beveridge, Craigieburn, Tarneit, Werribee etc. But now since these are mostly closed, we have begun to address domestic demand,” says Surinder Singh.
Diljot Singh (left) with Surinder Singh. Source: Supplied
Till February, they supplied milk in 20-litre plastic bags to commercial customers only. But now, the dairy has begun selling it in 10 litres bags because their customers are essentially households.
A 10-litre bag of pasteurised cream-on-top milk is sold for $15.50. No delivery fee is charged.
“Most Indians, especially Punjabis, consume milk in large quantities. Buying two or three-litre bottles in restricted numbers is not viable for them,” he adds.
However, he claims that the demand for their product has significantly gone up.
Most of their orders still come through their Facebook page or their phones and word of mouth publicity is significantly propelling their business.
“We have seen a 200 per cent growth rate in demand in about two weeks’ time,” Mr Singh says, adding that the dairy is very careful about not leaving customers dissatisfied.
“Honestly, we weren’t equipped to service such a large number of customers before the coronavirus hit. But when demand kept pouring in via Facebook and phone, we hurriedly had to get a website created but that is also a work in progress as our developers are based in India, which is in lockdown,” Mr Singh elaborates.
Slowly, as their capacity to meet the growing demand builds up, Mr Singh says, the business will expand its delivery area.
“We are getting a lot of enquiries from Melbourne’s southeast. But logistically, we are unable to supply to that part of Melbourne at the moment. Hopefully soon,” he says.
Business as usual at Kisaan Dairy. Source: Supplied
The dairy prides itself on the quality of its product, which Mr Singh believes is another reason behind the sudden spike in demand.
“Indians, especially Punjabis are used to getting milk in open vessels from which malai (cream) can be separated after boiling and cooling it. That’s not possible with most of the bottled milk available in supermarkets because it is usually homogenised. But with Kisaan Dairy’s unhomogenised milk, you can not only get malai but also a flavour of Punjab in Australia,” Mr Singh says dreamily.
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