Vegan Dairy Entrepreneurship - The Rise of Vegan Movement in India

After becoming hugely popular in the West, veganism has caught up in India and is growing steadily. Lata Vishwanath discusses the vegan movement and the entrepreneurs, who are staunch believers in veganism. Vegan products have made a big entry into the Indian consumer market.

- Lata Vishwanath

Among the vegan entrepreneurs who have set up their shops in the Indian consumer space and are slated to make an impact, are dealing primarily with dairy products. Driven by the response to the vegan movement and discovering a huge market potential for vegan dairy products, young entrepreneurs have ventured into plant-based dairy products. Twentytwo-year-old Abhay Rangan is one such entrepreneur from Bengaluru, who, along with his mother, started Veganarke – a home-based venture that supplies plant-based milk, curd, and butter to their neighbours and friends, and which has now turned into the start-up Goodmylk, with distribution centres in four major cities across India.

What Is Veganism?

Unlike in Western countries, where the consumer’s diet largely comprises meat, non-dairy animal products, and sea creatures, a majority of the Indian population has, since time immemorial, been dependent on milk for their nutritional needs of calcium, vitamins, and proteins. The cow and its milk have been a quintessential part of our culture – dating back to the stories of Kamadhenu, the giver of milk and prosperity, and Lord Krishna as a child stealing butter from earthen pots. Cow’s milk has been considered essential in a growing child’s diet for strong bones and a good stamina. Remember the movie Bhaag Milkha Bhaag where the need for milk to strengthen the ace runner’s stamina was so well portrayed?

Now, the question is: Why is there a need to go for plant-based milk and its derivatives to replace something that was such an integral part of Indian culture and dietary requirements?