Cooperative wants milk powder included in free food kits supplied by Kerala govt.

ERCMPU says it already has 150 tonnes of the product in stock

The Ernakulam Regional Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union has appealed to the State government to include milk powder produced by the cooperative in the free food kit being supplied by the government as part of COVID-19 relief measures. Chairman of the regional milk cooperative John Theruvath said on Tuesday that the cooperative had about 150 tonnes of milk powder already in stock. The stock has piled up since the cooperative began converting excess milk procured by the union into powder as part of its efforts to help dairy farmers. Mr. John said that the milk cooperative has been procuring all the milk that was arriving at its primary centres with a view to helping farmers. ERCMPU comprises primary dairy societies and farmers affiliated to them in Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kottayam and Idukki districts. The daily procurement is to the tune of 3.90 lakh litres to 3.95 lakh litres per day. The cooperative is also converting about 50,000 litres of milk into powder after using around 30,000 litres for making value-added products.