by Tanvir Ali, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan

Pakistan is the fourth largest milk producer in the world. About a third of the total milk produced by the rural families flows out to urban consumers and processing industries. In urban areas milk is available to common consumers in two ways: loose / unprocessed milk and packed / processed milk. Haleeb Foods Limited (HFL) is a local company that is at the forefront of product and packaging innovation. The main characteristic of the marketing innovation of HFL was the exclusion of big milk contractors from the supply chain in the late 1990s. Haleeb Foods works mainly with small-scale producers, directly (self-collection) or indirectly (contract collection). HFL has one of the largest nation-wide distribution networks delivering high quality products, even in the most remote areas, via a network of more than 1,100 distributors. Even though HFL is a company that insures the inclusion of small-scale farmers, there are still some limitations on its approach which might, in the long run, exclude small farmers.

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