Milk Marketing Systems

How the link between the producer of milk and consumer is established? Or what are the channels of milk disposal available to the milk producers? Figure given below illustrates that milk generally reaches the consumers through the following channels.

Milk Marketing Channels

The above Figure reflects the prevailing milk marketing systems in the country. The first four channels pertain to the unorganized sector while the fifth one is generally adopted by the dairy plants in the private/co-operative sector. To dispose off the surplus milk, the producer has choice of selecting the agency to whom he can sell his milk. The milk producer has the option of selling milk to the consumer directly either in the village itself or in the town/urban area as depicted in Channel-1. The milk producer can also sell milk to the vendor (Channel-2) who in turn sells it to the consumer. The Channel-3 connects milk producer to the Halwaii (sweet maker) and ultimately the consumer whereas in Channel-4 the first contact point is milk vendor in addition to the other marketing functionaries in milk trade as is evident in Channel-4. Milk producer can also deliver milk at the collection center of Milk Producers Co-operative Society in the village itself (if there is any such center) or in some nearby village where there is a milk collection center. Milk producer is at liberty to patronize one or more than one milk marketing agency depending upon his individual preferences, terms of payment settled and commitments between the seller and the purchaser. It is generally found that milk vendor collects the major share in the milk business in comparison to other agencies involved in the milk trade.

Traditional Channel of Milk Transport

The flow chart in the figure  depicts the typical traditional channels of milk transportations from the producer to the consumer through the retailers.