Freshmen’s Valley was incorporated in 2015 with an objective to create a dairy business which is an amalgam of traditional values and cutting edge technology to provide quality and hygienic dairy products of international standards. The core objective of the company is to deliver fresh milk from farm to the consumer’s table using high end processing and packaging technology to preserve nutritive value of milk and other dairy products.
BWDisrupt’s team member Sujata Sangwan interacts with Anant Choudhary, Director, Freshmen’s Valley and spoke to him
What inspired you to start the company? What is your background? “Being a farmer’s son I’ve had a very humble beginning. I understand the requirement and challenges faced by the farmers. Coming from a farming background, it was inevitable for me to start a dairy company of my own. Freshmen’s Valley is a culmination of my endeavour to work with the dairy farming community and address their challenges. Freshmen’s Valley has a premium positioning with a promise to deliver the purest and freshest milk to its consumers.
We ventured into the dairy business which is a start-up venture for me. As you know, India is one of the largest markets for the dairy sector globally, however, there are certain gaps in terms of packaging, freshness, hygiene and quality and there’s huge headroom in the market. This inspired me to venture into this business and try to leverage on our experience, knowledge and expertise and ensure that the end consumers get a product which meets international standards of hygiene and quality.
Freshmen’s Valley was incorporated with an objective to create an amalgam of traditional values and high–end technology. We are utilising cutting edge technology and quality checks at each level to ensure a seamless functioning of the entire process and provide a high-end product to our customers.
What is the funding status and monetization model?We have garnered capital investment from promoter which amounts to 40% of total cost of the project and Project funding by SBBJ Bank which amounts to INR 28.5 crore approx.
What are the products that you are offering and how are they different from the already present products available?We have entered the market with a strong intention of delivering quality product to the consumers. We did a thorough research initially and saw a huge gap between the demand and supply of pure, hygienic and quality milk. We are confident of our strong delivery chains, logistic systems, our quality checks and state of the art technology being used in the entire process; these factors are key differentiators which will help to establish our brand and product as distinctive and fresh.
The USP of our brand is hygiene and freshness. These are the elements that are currently lacking in the dairy industry. Our advance technology used in the processing plant allows us to handle milk without any human intervention or contact. The equipment installed enables to complete the process at an accelerated speed and in a shorter time frame. We are using robust procedure of quality checks and measures coupled with international testing standards (comprising of 21 parameters of quality checks) at the reception level.
The region (Terai), from where we are procuring milk has the best quality milk fat and SNF. This is one of the few regions in India where average fat and SNF of milk is 6.6% and 9 % respectively due to climatic conditions.
For transportation, we have adopted a technologically advanced process. Our machines are equipped to check the milk for fat and SNF on 7 parameters which again is unique in the Indian dairy industry. To ensure the purity of milk, the trucks have GPS, cameras and door sensors installed to track the movement till it reaches the processing plant. All the cameras are connected to a common control room to monitor the movement. The moment a door opens, it triggers an alarm and relays pictures to the control room.
Right now the products which are available in the market are pouch milk, which are available in 6 variants - Full Cream Milk, Standardized Milk, Toned Milk, Double Toned Milk, Skimmed Milk and Chaiwala (Tea Special) Milk. The brand is also offering an assortment of other dairy products like Fresh Curd, Chaach, Masala Chaach and Malai Paneer. As we go along, we are planning to introduce Ghee, Flavored Milk, Fruit Yoghurt and Greek Yoghurt to our product portfolio.
Where all the products are available and what is your expansion plan?In the first phase of our plan, our primary focus was on Uttarakhand and cities of Western UP like Moradabad, Rampur, Bareilly, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Ghaziabad and Noida. In the next phase, we will be expanding into Northern India- Delhi, NCR and further deepen our reach in the cities of operations.
What is the total dairy market size and how do you plan to create your own space there?We have invested Rs.50 crores to start with. With respect to the market share, our product is targeted at everybody who believes in eating and drinking pure and healthy food. Our focus is to deliver our commitment of pure and fresh milk and optimally utilize our expertise to deliver internationally viable product.
What is the next big thing in the pipeline?We are constantly working towards adding more product variants to our product portfolio. Our lab in Noida does continuous R&D on product development. Our aim is to continuously provide a high quality product to our customers. We are adding to our product portfolios and will soon be introducing Flavored Milk, Fruit Yogurt and Greek Yogurt, within the market.
What are your future goals for the coming 5 years?Freshmen’s Valley was incorporated with an objective to create a dairy business which is an amalgamation of traditional values and cutting edge technology. The aim is to provide high-quality and hygienic dairy products in keeping with international standards.
The brand introduced its products across Uttrakhand and Western UP as part of first phase of operations and then entered Meerut and Ghaziabad. Coming years, the brand will launch in Delhi/ NCR and strengthen its position in the Northern India.
