Indian consumers are in transitional period shifting from unpackaged/unbranded Yogurt to packaged/branded yogurt. Bonafide Research

Indian customers across the country shift from unpackaged to packaged dairy products, be it butter, yoghurt, ghee or, ice-creams and consumption of value added dairy products such as yogurt has gone up in urban homes. This is due to the phenomenon of working couples, single men and women with high disposable income also provided the impetus to look at the category with fresh eyes.

Specifically for India, yogurt includes curd/dahi, shrikhand, raita, mishit doi, buttermilk, Lassi etc which all were made at home since past are now bought by urban couples and single working women. Young females who are working find it a good idea to get the yogurt or dahi from outside instead of setting it at home. All these create an opportunity for commercially produced yogurt and companies are focusing on that opportunity. It is an extremely attractive market, both because of its size and its potential. Over the past few years, though, a couple of things have changed to make the market vastly more attractive to the player.

According to the report 'India Packaged Yogurt Market Outlook, 2027-28' published by Bonafide Research, India Packaged/Retail Yogurt market is anticipated to grow with a CAGR of more than 19% in the forecasted period of FY 2022-23 to FY 2027-28.  It is segmented in to Spoonful yogurt and Drinkable Yogurt. Spoonful yogurt market is further divided into Plain/ Natural yogurt, Frozen yogurt and others(Greek Yogurt, shrikhand, probiotic yogurt, mishit doi) whereas Drinkable yogurt are divided in Lassi, Buttermilk and others (raita). GCMMF is the market leader in both the segment. Region-wise, North and South have constituted more than 60% in the year 2021-22. In the spoonful yogurt, Plain/Natural yogurt has dominance over frozen yogurt and other yogurt. In the drinkable yogurt, other type of drinkable yogurt is the least contributor at the end of review period.        

Indian consumer especially the affluent urban consumer is consuming more value-added products like yogurt, which bring in bigger profits for dairy companies than raw milk. Though,  the Indian cooperatives dairies has largely stick to basic milk, butter, processed cheese slices and ice cream for many decades, had left a gap in the market which were filled by new players with new product offerings. Danone was among the first to introduce a series of frozen yogurts, but its innovations were quickly copied by his rivals, including Amul. Nestle has launched Greek yogurt, Nestle-a+ GREKYO which is a super concentrated yogurt, is a fledgling category in India and is stocked by premium retailers. As cold food supply chain is an obstacle in India, companies have innovated and created products with greater shelf lives.  They have innovated products, such as smoothies, Buttermilk and Lassi, which are packaged in ultra-high temperature (UHT) packs. Thus all the value added products including yogurt will grow at colossal rate in India in future. 

Major Companies

Major companies that operate into the Yogurt market in India are Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Limited, Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Private Limited, Parag Milk Foods Limited, Prabhat Dairy Limited, Drums Food International Private Limited, Hatsun Agro Product Limited, Heritage Foods Limited, Karnataka Cooperative Milk Producers Federation, VRS Foods Limited, Nestle India Limited, Danone Foods and Beverages India Private Limited, Britannia Dairy Private Limited