This one is a postcard from India! Upon receiving this card, I learned of a new brand and a new mascot – Amul and the Amul girl! And I “Amul”oving this card! (There’s my share of terrible puns for the day.) Amul is a producer of dairy products based in the state of Gujurat, located in the westernmost section of India. Its origins go back to 1946 – 75 years ago – when it began as a farmers’ union… and it’s an interesting story! It all started in the district of Kaira (in Gujurat), where milk farmers had it rough. Their living conditions aside, they often had to sell their milk products to contractors at really low prices given how perishable milk is (if you had to pick between letting your milk go bad or selling it for pocket change, you’d probably feel compelled to go with the latter, albeit reluctantly). These unfair practices were exacerbated with the onset of what was called the Bombay Milk Scheme! Due to quality issues of the milk the farmers produced (stemming largely from their living conditions), the government executed this directive, which, in short, gave a company known as Polson a monopoly over the milk supply to Bombay (known today as Mumbai). Polson would buy the milk from the farmers at dirt cheap prices, pasteurize it, and then sell it at a much higher price. Everyone benefited except, of course, the farmers. They weren’t havin’ it, and understandably so! So, they sought to create a union that would take out any middlemen and have the production, pasteurization and marketing of dairy products under their control. They demanded the government to allow the creation of the union, though the government turned it down… which led to a 15-day long milk strike, where the farmers would not sell any of their milk! The government finally yielded, and thus the union that served as the foundation for today’s Amul was born! Amul is now the largest milk producer of India, and makes India the largest milk producer of the world! Two weeks of milk strikes and 40 years of advertising really paid off! (Also, Polson no longer supplies milk.) Thank you so much for sending me this lovely postcard, Sagar!
