Book Launch: A Story of Milk in Pakistan

Nestlé Pakistan hosted the launch of a book, narrating the story of milk in the country, Drop of the Divine: A Story of Milk in Pakistan. Developed by Markings Publishing, it is a beautifully photographed book that shines the spotlight on the history and journey of the packaged milk sector in the country.

Pakistan is the fourth largest milk producing country in the world, with dairy and livestock’s contribution to the national GDP at a staggering 11%. It’s little wonder then that the constantly evolving and prolific dairy sector which has been through monumental changes since the birth of the nation.

As mentioned in the dairy book, since independence most of the Pakistan population lived in rural areas. Households tended cattle and produced raw milk for their own consumption. Over the years, as, Pakistan experienced a great surge of urbanization, farmers became more enterprising distributing milk in densely populated areas with the help of mobile milk collectors (dodhis). During the early 80s, the Government of Pakistan introduced favorable policies to fuel growth of the dairy and packaged milk industry. Following this, in 1988, Nestlé partnered with MILKPAK Limited to revolutionize the dairy industry in liquid and powder milk as we know it today.

Nestlé Pakistan currently stands as the leading food and beverage Company with an extensive dairy product portfolio of liquid and powder milk that has continued to enhance the lives of Pakistanis for over 30 years. Commenting on the significance of the packaged dairy industry, Bruno Olierhoek, CEO Nestlé Pakistan said, “Apart from tracing the dairy trail and the packaged milk industry in Pakistan, the coffee table book also features insight from those associated with the country’s dairy sector over the years. We hope this book goes a long-way in adding to readers’ knowledge of the evolution of packaged milk, both liquid and powder in Pakistan”.

Kiran Aman, CEO of Markings, said, “Working on a book about milk for Nestlé was totally characteristic of Markings Publishing, solely because I know it has never been done before in Pakistan. It showcases the growth of packaged milk in dairy sector, the potential we have, and the room for so much more to happen in future.”

We often take for granted where packaged milk comes from and how it reaches us; therefore, Drops of the Divine: A Story of Milk in Pakistan takes us behind the scenes and uncovers the entire journey from the cow to the consumer.