Milk Mantra is an Indian agricultural dairy products startup based in Odisha, India. Founded in August 2009 by former director at Tetley Srikumar Misra and first operational in 2012, it is India's first venture capital-backed agricultural startup. It was set up to solve the milk scarcity problem in the state. Milk Mantra produces and distributes milk and other milk-based products like buttermilk, cottage cheese, curd, and yogurt. It also sells flavored milkshakes and ready-to-drink healthy milk beverages under its brands Milky Moo and Mooshake. It is known for its packaging that increases the shelf life of milk products by up to four days.
History
Milk Mantra was founded in August 2009 by Srikumar Misra, a former executive with Tata Group. Its first series of investments were received from VC firms Eight Roads Adventures and Aavishkaar Venture Management Services. The company took 18 months to complete its series funding and started its operations in early 2011 with the commissioning of a factory in Gop in Odisha. In June 2011, the company developed its 3-layer packaging technique called 'Tripak' which prevents the milk contents from light damage. In 2012, it launched its products in Bhubaneshwar and Kolkata with services like direct-to-home milk delivery. In 2013, it launched a range of Easter India's first probiotic curd. In December 2014, it acquired Westernland Dairy, which extended Milk Mantra's reach to Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh According to Misra, the idea for Milk Mantra came from the business idea of Micromax Mobile, which focused on its phone's USP of 30-day battery life. Milk Mantra's USP lies in its packaging which promises improved shelf life of its dairy products. On June 21, 2016, RBI GovernorRaghuram Rajan visited the office of Milk Mantra and met its management and employees to understand the business model of the startup which sources its chief product from over 40000 farmers in the state, called the Ethical Milk Sourcing programme. In June 2015, the startup became EBITDA positive with a turnover of in the financial year 2015-16.
Funding
Between 2010 and 2014, Milk Mantra raised a total capital of in funding from a group of 20angel investors which mainly included Aavishkaar India and Fidelity Growth Partners India.
Milk Mantra produces and distributes various milk products like buttermilk, curd, probiotic yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, milkshakes, energy drinks, and other beverages. Under the brand Milky Moo, it manufactures and sells flavored milkshakes. In early 2015, Milk Mantra entered the health food industry by launching MooShake. Under the brand, it produces a health beverage which is blended with curcumin, an extract from turmeric, believed to have multiple health benefits. It was first launched in Bengaluru. Commenting on the brand and its chief product, Srikumar Misra, the founder and MD of Milk Mantra said, “We have done almost three years of research and development to come out this complex product and make it shelf stable and tasty.” MooShake products have a shelf life of 180 days.
Production
Milk Mantra has its main processing plant at Gop in Puri city of Odisha. It has a processing capacity of 70000 liters of milk per day. The startup also has a plant in the neighbouring Sambalpur which can process 50000 liters per day.
