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The Historic and Iconic Status of India’s Amul Butter
Let's travel back in history and shed light on how this humble dairy product became, and maintained itself, as a product ingrained within Indian pop-culture.
[Photo Source: Amul]
Chances are you’ve seen the cute, coyly smiling girl with the polka-dot dress and sprouting half ponytail hair. You definitely know her! Though she looks like the girl next door, she’s a megastar who often finds herself in the midst of controversy. Who are we talking about—Priyanka? Deepika?
Neither!
We’re referring to the iconic Amul butter girl!
How did she get so famous and what’s the story behind the Amul brand? Let’s travel back in history and shed light on how this humble dairy product became, and maintained itself, as a product ingrained within Indian pop-culture.
Amul was created in response to the exploitative business practices of Polson, a dairy company that had a monopoly on milk in India. They would undercharge small farmers for dairy and then sell it in Bombay for high prices. Due to the lack of a fair, centralized dairy provider, many common citizens throughout India could not get milk. This forced India to become one of the largest importers of milk powder from other nations.
In 1946, local Gujarat farmer, Tribhuvandas K. Patel, encouraged farmers to create dairy cooperatives in each of their villages that would sell milk directly to Bombay instead of selling to Polson. Patel was eventually joined by Dr. Verghese Kurien and H. M. Dalaya in 1949. These three men would be responsible for giving the small dairy farmers scattered throughout India access to a centralized marketing and processing cooperation.
The cooperation was jointly owned by all of the dairy producers, and Dr. Kurien worked hard to create a cohesive brand for the cooperation. In 1955, the brand name Amul was selected because it was an acronym for the Anand Milk Union Ltd and it was similar to the Sanskrit word, amulya which means “priceless.”
In the meantime, other districts opened up dairy cooperations to provide dairy to the cities throughout India. These cooperations realized that they could make more by joining Amul instead of competing with them; thus, they banded under the umbrella of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation. The GCMMF used the brand name Amul to provide dairy products nationwide—and in just a few decades, they turned India into one of the largest producers of dairy products worldwide.
Indian people liked the fact that Amul products were created in India without exploiting dairy farmers, and the products quickly became known for their quality. In 1966, the Amul butter girl was created, and she starred in many ads that mentioned topical events that everyone could relate with. This ad campaign is still running today, and it keeps Amul butter involved in current events.
People see Amul butter as a sign of tradition and quality, but their successful advertising campaigns and online presence on Twitter and Facebook also ensure that the brand stays relevant in modern times. Anytime something of note happens, the company quickly releases advertisements that show the Amul butter girl interacting with the current event. The ability of the company to easily mention charities, actors, and news events that people are interested in keeps the company in the public’s consciousness.
Amul continues to remain true to their background as a progressive organization designed to benefit common farmers. They are still involved in issues of social progress within India and have recently used their online presence to support controversial movements such as decriminalizing homosexuality and the Indian Airlines employees strike.
Currently, the GCMMF and Amul are jointly owned by the 3.6 million milk producers who provide the dairy that is used to make butter, ghee, ice cream, paneer, and other Amul products.