Aavin

The Dairy Development Department was established in Tamil Nadu in 1958 to oversee and regulate milk production and commercial distribution across the state. Administrative and statutory control over all dairy co-operatives was officially trasferred to the department on 1 August 1965. In 1972, the commercial activities of the department were shifted to the newly formed Tamil Nadu Dairy Development Corporation Limited. Following the adoption of the "Anand pattern" cooperative model, this cooperation was succeeded by the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation Limited (TCMPF) which was registered on 1 February 1981. The federation processes and markets its dairy products under the trademark Aavin. Tamil Nadu ranks among the leading Indian states in milk production with about 14.5 million liters per day and currently has 1 crore daily consumers.

The name Aavin is a portmanteau of the Tamil words "Aa" (ஆ) meaning "cow" and "Aavin Paal" (ஆவின் பால்) which translates literally to "cow's milk".

In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic TCMPF partnered with Swiggy to retail and deliver its dairy products directly to consumers. Under this arrangement, doorstep deliveries of Aavin products across eight distinct categories were fulfilled from 21 distribution outlets across Chennai.

In July 2020, the federation launched an initiative inviting auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers to act as "mobile agents" across Tamil Nadu. This program aimed to boost dairy product sales while simultaneously providing a livelihood to transport workers struggling financially due to pandemic lockdown restrictions.

According to company reports for the 2019-2020 fiscal year, Aavin procured roughly 40 lakh litres of milk per day. Of this volume, 25 lakh litres were distributed as liquid milk, while the remaining supply was processed into value-added commodities such as skimmed milk powder, ice creams, buttermilk, curd, ghee and butter. For the same financial period, the company recordeda an annual turnover of ₹5,800 crore with monthly milk sales climbing from ₹34.78 crore to ₹41.15 crore.

Controversies

In 2012, there were widespread rumors about the milk being adulterated when it was being transported from cooperative societies to dairies. In 2014, a major adulteration racket was busted by the police in Villupuram district. The modus operandi of the gang was to transfer cans of milk from transport that carried pure milk from Chennai to Tiruvannamalai and replace it with an equal quantity of water. Aavin said that it lost an estimated ₹10 crore (US$1.0 million) due to the racket.