• PAGE ONE
• INDEX
• HOME

KSE eyeing foreign majors for milk products business

Our Bureau

KOCHI, Sept. 6

THE Kerala-based cattle feed manufacturers, KSE Ltd, is planning to foray into milk products business in a big way and is holding talks with foreign milk product majors for sourcing technology.

There are plans to diversify into milk products business by launching products ranging from fresh hygienically packed milk, ghee and value-added products such as ice creams, frozen deserts and other related products.

Discussion with foreign companies were only at the initial stages and it was too early to divulge the names of the firms, Mr. M.C. Paul, Chairman and Managing Director, said at a press conference here.

He said the company had recently entered into milk business by setting up two separate production units for milk processing and launching KS brand milk. The capacity of these units was 20,000 litres per day, but they currently processed only 10,000 litre s. Besides milk, the units had also introduced KS brand ghee, butter milk and curd in the market.

The company, which bagged the national award for productivity from the National Productivity Council during the years 1997-98 and 1998-99, was the leading cattle feed manufacturers in the country with a capacity totalling 640 tonnes per day. It had four units, three in Kerala and one in Tamil Nadu.

KSE had a turnover of Rs. 140 crores and was listed at the Kochi, Mumbai and Chennai exchanges. The 28-year old company had an excellent track record in performance by declaring dividends to shareholders every year since 1976 and an extra-ordinary histor y of cordial labour relations, Mr. Paul said.

The company with a 38 per cent market share in Kerala had achieved a profit of Rs. 7 crores last year. But this year, the profit had fallen to Rs. 1.4 crores because of high increase in the prices of raw materials due to cheaper import of oil.