Sparkling Milk

NASHIK-BASED SARDA FARMS DOES NOT AGGREGATE MILK FROM MILKMEN. IT PRODUCES ITS OWN AT AN AUTOMATED FACTORY, AND MARKETS IT AS A PREMIUM PRODUCT.

When Shrirang Sarda, Founder, Sarda Farms, forayed into the dairy business in 2013, he was keen on giving consumers the old-world experience of getting fresh milk delivered at their doorsteps – a luxury in today’s times. He painstakingly bred a herd of 1,300 Holstein cows on his sprawling 11acre farm in the outskirts of Nashik. He imported the sperms of Holstein bulls from Holland and injected the herd. The milk farm is completely mechanised – the whole process from milking the cows to aggregation and finally packaging is automated, with zilch human intervention.

“I was clear that when I foray into the dairy business, I will not get into the aggregation model (collecting milk from multiple farmers – a practice followed by most dairy manufacturers in India) which is prone to adulteration. I decided to have my own farm from day one,” says Sarda. He spent months learning the best practices in dairy on the farms of Holland and Denmark.

The fresh, uncontaminated milk offering comes at an added cost because owning a farm and

producing milk is far more expensive than buying from farmers. The cost of producing one litre of Sarda Milk is at least `10 per litre more than sourcing from a farmer. Therefore, he decided to price the milk at a premium – `90 per litre, as opposed to `40 per litre from most other brands. Sarda has used design to convey a sense of tradition and heritage, rendering a premium look. The milk is packaged in glass bottles much like it used to be in the good old days, before the poly-pack milk trend began.

The milk is delivered to a consumer’s home directly from the farm, bereft of any handling by intermediaries, unlike the milk in pouches that is delivered four days after production. Alok Nanda, Founder and CEO, Alok Nanda and Company, which handles branding and communication for Sarda Farms, says the idea of using glass bottles came from the memory of milk being traditionally delivered in glass bottles straight from the farmer’s home. “This implies purity,” he says, adding, “Milk packaged in plastic pouches is about a two-decade-old phenomenon done to cut costs, and there are enough stories of contamination and adulteration of packaged milk.”

The Premium Difference

Unlike most brands which sell their products out of retail stores, Sarda Farms reaches consumers only through invitation. So, if consumers of Sarda Farms recommend names of their acquaintances who could be prospective consumers, a personal invite along with a bottle of milk is sent out by the founder himself. In fact, Sarda says he has grown the brand only through word of mouth. “We were delivering it to only 180 homes when we started in 2013,” he informs. The three-year-old brand now delivers to 6,500 homes in Mumbai and Nashik.

Fresh milk straight from the farm is a luxury many deem a necessity. The first thing that struck Rashi Srivastav, an interior designer, about Sarda milk was the glass bottle. However, what won her over was the promise of fresh, unadulterated milk. “Most of the packaged milk brands available in the market get to us almost a week after the milk is collected. With Sarda Farms, I am assured of getting fresh milk straight from the farms, and the milk is distinctly fresh,” says Srivastav, adding that she is willing to pay any price to ensure her five-year-old daughter’s

SHRIRANG SARDA FOUNDER, SARDA FARMS "We have been focusing a lot on customer experience and satisfaction"