Large, young population base with rising disposable income is boosting the Indian dairy & soy food sector, which is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.5% from INR1,324.6bn (US$19.4bn) in 2018 to INR1,993.6bn (US$26.8bn) by 2023, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s report, ‘Country Profile: Dairy & Soy Food in India’, reveals that milk was the largest category with value sales of INR1,183.9bn (US$17.3bn) in 2018. The soymilk & soy drinks category is forecast to register the fastest value growth at a CAGR of 10.6% during 2018–2023, closely followed by drinkable yogurt (10.4%).

GlobalData predicts that the cheese category will register the fastest CAGR of 6.7% in volume terms, followed by butter & spreadable fats (5.9%), during the forecast period.

Sneha Singh, Consumer Analyst at GlobalData, says: “Rapid urbanization will lead to increasing acceptance of dairy & soy food products in the daily diets of Indian consumers.”

 The per capita consumption (PCC) of dairy & soy food in India grew from 16.4kg in 2013 to 19kg in 2018, which was higher than the regional level (17.1kg), but lower when compared to global level (31.6kg) in the same year. The per capita consumption is expected to grow further and reach 21.5kg by 2023.

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF), Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. and Karnataka Co-Operative Milk Producers` Federation Ltd. were the top three companies in the Indian dairy & soy food sector, accounting for value shares of 20.6%, 10.5% and 6.8%, respectively in 2018.

While GCMMF offers products in butter & spreadable fats, cheese, cream, dairy-based & soy-based desserts, drinkable yogurt, milk and yogurt categories, Mother Dairy has products positioned in butter & spreadable fats, cheese, cream, drinkable yogurt, milk and yogurt categories.

Singh concludes: “Indian consumers, with growing health consciousness and rising purchasing power will spur demand for dairy & soy food products with health and wellness claims such as ‘naturally healthy’, particularly in milk,  butter & spreadable fats and yogurt categories.”