Towards a Milk-Sufficient Bangladesh
PRAN Dairy, like its sister concern – PRAN RFl Group – is upholding the companies mission of Improving Livelihood by enriching the dairy industry. Sixteen years ago, PRAN Dairy set foot in the market and has been working relentlessly to improve the industry’s output. Since PRAN works for economic development, the company wants to stay on course and establish Bangladesh as dairy frontrunners. The milk consumption in our neighboring India and Pakistan is relatively higher, clocking in around 250ml/capita, while Bangladesh is catching up with 80-120ml/capita and increasing. This has been possible due to the dairy industry having more players. Bangladesh as of yet is not a milk sufficient country since we still rely heavily on imports to meet national demands. The investment- reliant industry has marked a significant increase in local production in recent years. The dedication has proven fruitful, as the country’s milk production is at 7.5 million tonnes, up around nine folds from 1.2 million tonnes in 2005.
Cow milk is the best source of calcium and vitamin D. Protein, Fat, Water, Carbohydrates, Vitamins, Energy, Minerals and Enzymes. A person needs 250ml of milk every day to meet general nutritional needs, however, Bangladesh is drinking the only 120ml of milk per day. In order to meet this deficit, PRAN Dairy has been fulfilling the demands for dairy products including fresh milk since 2003. In order to collect this milk, PRAN Diary has established 5 Dairy Hubs in Pabna, Natore, Rangpur, and Sirajganj in the northern part of the country.
Milk is collected twice daily from farmers by village milk collection centers. PRAN Dairy affords farmers the safety and security of not being entrapped by swindlers and brokers. Trained dairy experts run several tests on the collected milk to ensure quality. PRAN Dairy provides all sorts of facilities for contracted farmers, including ensuring proper healthcare of cattle on regular basis. Alongside they offer training on proper cattle-rearing, improvement of cattle breed, a method of collection and preservation of milk.
Besides establishing PRAN Dairy, PRAN also established the PRAN Dairy Academy in Natore under Bangladesh Technical Board in 2011 to make trained farmers and create employment in the country. In the academy, short term training is organized on veterinary dairy farms by skilled teachers. After the completion of the training course, students enter the promising milk company. It allows individuals the chance to become self-dependent. Besides, since procuring jobs in dairy projects, students of the academy have been establishing their own farms. The creation of trained farmers has been playing a significant role in the improvement of domestic farm quality.
Along with meeting the milk demands of the nation, PRAN Dairy is ensuring the fair value of milk produced by farmers of the rural areas in the country. This has improved the quality of their lifestyle by ensuring their employment. Also, the nutritional needs of these farmers are being ensured. There are female farmers along with male farmers at PRAN Dairy Milk Collection Center. PRAN Dairy encourages rural women to become self-sufficient. Training is being organized separately for prospective female farmers.
The Journey Begins
To get their message across to thousands of end-level consumers, PRAN Dairy has been dedicatedly campaigning to raise awareness on the nutritional needs of consuming milk. One such successful campaign has been the Amar PRAN Milk Journey campaign. The campaign began with a series of docu-dramas which showcases how PRAN Dairy is developing economic stability for the people living in Northern Bangladesh using dairy farming. The informative docu-dramas caught the eye of two national celebrities – Emon and Badhon – and after they expressed their curiosity regarding the milk collection and distribution process, PRAN Dairy decided to do a nationwide campaign to create mass-awareness of their procedures and techniques. The campaign highlights PRAN Dairy’s supply chain, starting from the registered and trained 12000 farmers who deposit on average 2 Lac liters of milk per day. It also highlights PRAN Dairy’s stringent filtering process.
After collection, the milk is taken to Narshindi where PRAN’s industrial factory is located. This is where pasteurized milk is produced. The pasteurization process begins with the milk going through a battery of tests which include Digital fat test, Alcohol test, Soda test, and CLR test. Only after the milk meets PRAN’s quality standards, the milk begins traveling from tanks via pipes to storage tanks, where the temperature is lowered to a constant 3-4oC. After this, the milk goes to the pasteurizing machines where it is pasteurized in 86oC. Following this, the milk goes to filling and packaging section, where it is packaged in 3 layers foil then collected in below 4oC cooling room.
The same stringent measures are taken to ensure the highest quality PRAN UHT Milk. Following the collection of the milk, it is transferred to the industrial factory. To guarantee 100% sterilization of the UHT Milk, PRAN in partnership with Sweden’s Tetra Pac uses Tetra Fino Aceptic machine. Keeping the milk nutritious values into consideration, it is warmed in an ultra-high temperature of 140oC to rid the milk of any bacteria. The bacteria-free milk then travels directly to the filling and packaging sections, where it gets packed into a 6-layer tetra packet container. This ensures that the final product has a 6-month shelf-life, can be consumed directly without boiling and can withstand not being refrigerated.
One of the highlights was a roundtable discussion, where Department of Live Stock (DLS), the government body that monitors and surveys were present. UNIDO, DLS, Tetra Laval have partnered with PRAN Dairy to support sustainable small holder farm milk production in Bangladesh. The roundtable hosted teachers from various Agro-Universities, and many NGOs were also in attendance. There are many activities where dairy companies require the support of NGOs to see them through. The roundtable discussion also included celebrities, customers and farmers. This is how the PRAN Milk Journey was culminated. PRAN Dairy aspires to organize a larger roundtable discussion with all of their stakeholders. As a private enterprise, they need the government’s support to leverage a stronghold on the dairy market.
Camp X – the next generation of milk-drinkers
In order to make people aware of the importance of milk consumption, PRAN Dairy has created TVCs which promote milk habit campaigns, and alongside the message is spread across various colonies. PRAN Dairy steps out on to the field and visits wet markets, as well as carrying out door-to-door promotions explaining the necessities of milk.
Most children have an aversion to consuming direct fresh milk. In order to cater to this demography, PRAN Dairy has in its satchel, a collection of flavored milk with flavors ranging from chocolate, mango, and strawberry. It has been reported that once children reach the age of 5, milk habits usually plummet and take a nose dive. To combat this regressive milk habit, PRAN Dairy has launched their brilliant initiative – Camp X – the campaign‘s focus is children and cultivating healthy milk habits through promoting the idea that milk is for everybody, not just for children and elderlies.
Camp X also focuses on improving the skill set of selected participants by giving them leadership and team building training. The process began with PRAN Dairy venturing into 40 schools, and screening students’ analytical abilities and making them sample the milk. From the schools visited, 2-3 students were selected till they had around roughly an 80-student group. Both boys and girls were encouraged to take part in this campaign which began on the 15th March and lasted till 17th March. From here, the students, along with Anisul Huq, Habibur Bashar and Afsana Mimi left for the campsite, where the three selected panelists spoke on 3 different topics respectively. It lasted for three days and two nights, and children were taught the importance of milk consumption while drinking it once in the morning and once at night.
An intensive learning experience, the participants were made aware of their aspirations and dreams through leadership and team building exercises. Following the success of the campaign, PRAN Dairy has plans to make Camp X accessible for university students.
Empowerment and Ecological Excellence
PRAN Dairy encourages rural women to become self-sufficient. They organize training separately for promising female farmers. One such story is that of Aasia, from Shalina village, located in Sajadpur district. Aasia’s family was unable to make ends meet on her husband masonry salary, and had to sell off their only cow to meet the cost of their son’s sudden illness. When all seemed hopeless, PRAN Dairy stepped in and transformed her misfortunes by offering her a loan with which she bought a cow. In order to facilitate this PRAN has an agreement with the banks that PRAN Dairy will endorse itself as collateral against the loan the farmer receives. Now, Aasia has 6 cows and provides 50 liters of milk per day.
PRAN Dairy is assisting educated village women to realize their dreams of self-dependency by lending a hand in their initiative to become farmers. Rashida is one such woman, who despite having finished her higher education was unable to land a job. PRAN Dairy stepped in during her trying times and helped her establish a farm where she looks after 24 cows and contributes to the family income, and sends her daughter to a good school and dreams of extending her farm. PRAN Dairy is doing their bit in a move to empower women. 80% of their workforce is comprised of women farmers.
PRAN Dairy is not just creating employment and meeting national milk demands, they are also playing a vital role in maintaining a balance in the natural environment through their project. Instead of using diesel-powered generator, solar power systems have been installed. This initiative is playing a key role in reducing carbon dioxide emission in the area. Also, each Village Milk Collection Center has an eco-friendly drainage technology which keeps the surrounding environment pollution free. In addition, natural fertilizers and biogas are being made from cattle waste. Natural fertilizers are making the land fertile. Bio-gas has added a new dimension to rural life making cooking easy and convenient.
PRAN – Program for Rural Advancement Nationally. With this view, the business began its journey 37 years ago to accomplish that goal, and PRAN Dairy is another medium to get closer to the goal. The Dairy Revolution has a special role in Bangladesh’s food revolution, food assurance and food security and PRAN Dairy have set the momentum for a sustainable, self-sufficient step into the future.
