In Ethiopia small farmer groups make butter and market it directly. In Kenya, cooperatives sell raw milk at their own shops, and sell only the excess to processors. In many countries, cooperatives formally process and market liquid milk and other dairy products, such as buffalo curd in Sri Lanka. These arrangements require higher levels of management and investment. The presence of large processors or unions, strict regulations and weak liquid milk consumption traditions may favour targeting of the formal processed dairy product market.
Many cooperative managers see value-adding through processing as one means of increasing revenue.
However, value adding through processing generally needs to be approached cautiously by cooperatives. Besides the additional management and investment capacity required, to be successful, processed products must carefully fit consumer demands. Unfortunately, in many developing countries dairy technologists are still trained using approaches and products developed in Europe or North America. This can sometimes result in the creation of products that are not of interest to local consumers. In past years, for example, the Kenya Cooperative Creameries produced a substantial quantity of butter.