# Aavin

Aavin is a state government cooperative under the ownership of Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Limited (TNCMPFL), Ministry of Milk and Dairy Development, Government of Tamil Nadu and the trademark of TNCMPFL. Aavin procures milk from the Indigenous Farmers, processes it and sells milk and milk products to consumers in Tamil Nadu and other states.
The company produces a wide range of products, including milk, butter, yogurt, ice cream, ghee, milk shake, khoa, Badam Milk, tea, coffee, and chocolate.

## History

The Dairy Development Department was established in Tamil Nadu in 1958 to oversee and regulate milk production and commercial distribution in the state. The Dairy Development Department took over control of the milk cooperatives. It was replaced by the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Limited in 1981. On 1 February 1981, the commercial activities of the cooperative were handed over to TNCMPFL which sold milk and milk products under the trademark "aavin". Tamil Nadu is one of the leading states in India in milk production with about 14.5 million liters per day and currently has 1 crore daily consumers.
'Aa' or 'ஆ' in Tamil means 'பசு' ('cow)' and 'பால்' means 'milk'. 'Aavin paal' ('ஆவின் பால்') translates to 'cow's milk' ('பசுவின் பால்').
In April 2020, Swiggy partnered with TNCMPFL, popularly known as 'AAVIN', to retail and sell its dairy and dairy products. As per this understanding Swiggy would make doorstep delivery of Aavin products across eight categories from 21 outlets across Chennai city. In July 2020, AAVIN, in a new initiative, invited drivers of autos and call taxis to work as its 'mobile agents' across Tamil Nadu, which it hoped would increase the sales of its milk products besides supporting the drivers in earning their livelihood, as they had struggled to make ends meet during the COVID-19 lockdown.
As per company reports for 2020, Aavin procured about 40 lakh litres of milk a day, of which 25 lakh litres were sold as milk while the remaining was converted into various milk products such as skimmed milk powder, ice creams, buttermilk, curd, ghee and butter. The company reported the annual turnover of ₹5800 crore for 2019-20 and monthly sales of milk increased from ₹34.78 crore to ₹41.15 crore.

## Activities

The Tamil Nadu Co-operative Milk Producers' Federation Limited is an apex body of 17 District Cooperative Milk Producers' Unions and through procurement of milk from villagers helps in economic development of farming community and also facilitates the processing and manufacturing of various milk products. It is headquartered at Aavin Illam, Kumbakonam, Thanjavur District and has three dairy plants at the following locations in Thanjavur.
* Thiruvidaimarudur - capacity of 4 LLPD
* Thanjavur - capacity of 3 LLPD
* Kumbakonam - capacity of 4 LLPD
These dairies collect milk from district unions, process and pack in sachets and send for sale to the consumers. Currently the organisation is purchasing 38 lakhs to 40 lakhs litre of milk per day and it has installed cloud based technology to monitor quality, quantity, pricing, and temperature control of the milk. The Ambattur product Dairy is engaged in the manufacture of milk products. The first Hi-Tech Aavin parlour in Coimbatore will open in March 2021.
In February 2021, Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami laid the foundation stone for two major Aavin plants to be constructed at Virudhunagar. The Enjar village unit is being constructed at ₹70.15 crore and will fill high-temperature milk automatically in tetra packets. The daily average output at this unit will be around 25,000 tetra packs. The second plant in Srivalliputhur will produce milk products like yoghurt, curd, lassi, buttermilk and other probiotics. Both the plants are being financed by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
In February 2021, Aavin floated a tender to construct an ice cream plant with a capacity of 6,000 litres per day at the company's Kottapattu complex on the Trichy-Pudukkottai national highway. It was proposed to be constructed at a cost of ₹43 crore under the Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF). It will also house a fermented dairy production unit with a capacity of 10,000 litres/day and allied infrastructure.
In September 2017, Aavin announced that it would be launching seven varieties of milk-based sweets for Deepavali.
Tamil Nadu Co-operative Milk Producers' Federation Limited entered into agreements with six vendors for sale of milk and milk products produced by it within India and export to United Arab Emirates, Ajman, Oman, Qatar, Canada and US and earn around ₹6 crores per year.

## Controversies

In 2012, there were widespread rumors about the milk being adulterated when it was being transported from cooperative societies to dairies. In 2014, a major adulteration racket was busted by the police in Villupuram district. The modus operandi of the gang was to transfer cans of milk from transport that carried pure milk from Chennai to Tiruvannamalai and replace it with an equal quantity of water. Aavin said that it lost an estimated ₹10 crore (US$1.1 million) due to the racket.

## Current operations

Aavin Company represents a significant milestone in the overall milk production of the country. About 3.85 lakh milk producers are supplying milk per day through 9,189 primary milk producer cooperative societies operating across Tamil Nadu.