India's ethnic dairy specialities are emerging as the next gourmet food. A flourishing market for India’s milk products is also expanding overseas, largely among some 20 million Indians living overseas. In North America alone, its value is estimated at US $500 million among four million South Asians.

The handbook documents a new trend in Indian dairy industry that promises to strengthen its organized modern sector into a viable and vibrant entity. This development has become possible as a result of innovative technologies developed for mechanized production of India's ethnic dairy sector. Already, brands like Amul, Nestle, Mother Dairy and Britannia are tapping this booming market that accounts for 95 per cent of all milk products consumed in the country.

These technical advances are creating new economic opportunities for a range of agri-business enterprises to expand avenues for enhanced income. These exciting developments have triggered a revolution that is transforming the socio-economic life of millions of farmers. All this signifies the start of the second phase of the White Revolution.

The handbook provides "Overview" of the Indian dairy industry, supported with 34 statistical tables as well as a number of graphs and charts. Its one highlight is the presentation of findings of a survey and analysis of the marke for ethnic dairy foods, conducted by the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) on our behalf.

Through this handbook, dairy and food professionals would have access to key technical information, needed for processing milk into traditional milk products. This data is supported with problem-solving tips, processing characteristics, analytical tests, product specifications, libelling information, food safety regulations and the like. This technical data and guidelines that are useful to dairy technologists, product developers, production managers, manufacturers and suppliers of ingredients, inputs, services and equipment, consultants to dairy and food industry.

Topics Covered

Topics covered include:

• Principles of processing that deal with composition and process characteristics of raw milk, including its hygienic handling and recommended practices
• Basic commercial and technical information on ingredients used in product formulations
• Process development including production planning and implementation that is supported with more than 75 flow diagrams, mass-balance charts
• List of equipment required and various technical aspects of packaging.

Indian Delicacies

The technology of as many as 50 Indian dairy delicacies is presented, grouped under the following five major headings:

• Desiccated semisolid milk products
• Coagulated cheese-like products
• Fermented/cultured yogurt-like products
• Fat-rich butter-oil-like products
• Milk rice-pudding-like desserts and puddings

Management Systems

Different management systems for product quality and food safety such as ISO and HACCP have been dealt with at length. These aspects are becoming increasingly important to win consumer confidence in domestic and export market. Nutrition and health aspects of these products are also discussed in a separate chapter.