Parag Milk Foods expands health & nutrition business; stock surges over 6 per cent

With the intent of expanding its health & nutrition business, the leading manufacturer & marketer of dairy-based branded products, Parag Milk Foods informed the bourses on Wednesday that it has established state-of-the-art facilities with a capacity to manufacture 40 MT of lactose per day. 

The company is one of the leading cheese producers in the country and with an ambition to grow the business further, it has ventured into whey protein powders, a by-product in the cheese manufacturing process. With the recently-commissioned Lactose plant, Parag Milk Foods now aims to add higher value to Whey permeates that are generated during the filtration process of Whey protein. 

Globally, the lactose market size stood at US$ 1.2 billion in 2018 and is further projected to grow to USD 1.5 billion by 2026, exhibiting a CAGR of 3.7 per cent during this period. The Indian lactose market size is approximately 40,000-45,000 MT and is valued at Rs 500 crore, with a major part of the requirement being met through imports. This provides a considerable opportunity for import substitution for players such as Parag Milk Foods. 

At the time of market closing today, the stock of Parag Milk Foods was trading at Rs 111.90, up by 6.12 per cent against a 0.95 per cent gain in the benchmark index. Its 52-week high is recorded at Rs 162.70 while the 52-week low is Rs 48.50 on BSE.