Milk is something we all take delight in, but it is indeed a sad truth that most of the current day’s milk is adulterated with harmful substances. To counter this problem, Shilpi Sinha has founded ‘The Milk India Company’ in 2018. The story behind TMC is quite fascinating, and it all started when Shilpi had to move to Bengaluru for the first time in 2012 to pursue her higher education. The place where Sinha grew up i.e., Daltonganj in Jharkhand was a town where quality milk was surplus. Shilpi had a habit of drinking a cup of milk every morning. She never had a problem with it until she moved to Bengaluru where milk was completely adulterated. But after tasting the urban milk, she decided to turn things around.
The Milk India Company delivers undiluted cow milk that tastes amazing. The milk is raw, unpasteurized and has zero processing involved. The milk which is validated by the National Dairy Research Institute of India is delivered in glass bottles. Currently, TMIC delivers milk within 10 km of Sarjapur in Bengaluru, priced at Rs 62/- per litre.
TMIC is currently focusing on catering to parents of one to eight-year-old children, as most of a child’s physical development takes place during the initial years where there is a need for extra nutrients and enriched protein content. Before accepting the order, Shilpi inquires the mothers about the baby’s age. And when she comes across orders from mothers of nine or ten-month-old babies, Shilpi puts such orders on hold and consults paediatricians, dieticians, and nutritionists about the right quantity of milk that is fit for consumption by babies that are not yet an year old.
“I ask mothers about their child’s age before accepting an order. If she says that the baby is not even a year old, we ask her to wait and not deliver,” she says.
Drinking cow’s milk has been proven to enrich the body with abundant protein which eventually helps strengthen children’s bones and also helps in overall growth as it is rich in calcium. Shilpi believes that though dairy is an established industry in India, it still needs innovation. On the other hand, she is content with just sticking to catering milk and has no plans to expand her business into providing any other milk products.
The milk from TMIC is always of the utmost quality as several measures are taken to ensure that the quality never goes down. A veterinary doctor always monitors the health of the cows and also a machine is used to calculate the somatic cell count as a lesser somatic cell count is a measure of healthy and safe milk.
Initiated with a fund of Rs 11,000, TMIC managed to fetch an annual revenue of 2.7 and 7 million respectively during the first and second year of operation. Today, Shilpi works with a network of nearly 50 farmers and 14 laborers in villages around Tumakuru and Bengaluru. Shilpi has another team of 14 people working from their office based in Sarjapur whom she credits as ‘mini-founders’ to honour their dedication.
The primary focus of TMIC remains to deliver value rather than sales or revenue. And Sinha proudly acknowledges the fact that she didn’t spend any money on marketing and yet managed to procure 500 customers just by word of mouth. One thing that gives the ultimate satisfaction to Sinha is that she can make a difference in the lives of children and mothers.
“I have been staying away from my family for the last three years and working on The Milk India Company. Now, I think we are at a point where people are starting to recognize us and see the value in our product. Among many instances, I had a mother who said the pure cow milk supply has helped her premature baby grow healthier,” she concludes.
