Earlier GCMMF had introduced branded milk in tetrahedron-shaped packs; 500 ml pyramid packs at Rs 4.50 and one litre rectangular brik packs at Rs 9. Says GCMMF's assistant general manager RS Sodhi: ``The tetrahedron packed milk was well ahead of its time which is why it was not accepted in 1983. Moreover, the `samosa' packaging was not convenient and difficult to store. We were not able to give milk of consistent quality also.''

Amul Taaza is non-sweetened, plain, low fat milk. It is homogenized to prevent cream layer formation at the top. Amul Taaza has been test-launched in Mumbai for the last two months and is expected to roll out nationally in the next few days. For the purpose, the company is targeting more than 5,000 shops in Mumbai alone. As against the Amul pouch milk, Amul Taaza will have a separate distribution network of retail outlets. The pouch milk is supplied by the regular chain of milk vendors. For Amul Taaza, the company is targeting about four lakh retail outlets in the next two years.

At present, Amul Taaza is being manufactured at the state-of-art plant at Mother Dairy Gandhinagar, a unit of GCMMF. Even as the locations are not decided, the company in the next one month, is looking at setting up two more manufacturing bases for Amul Taaza. The current Gandhinagar plant has a capacity of 80,000 litres per day. With the new plants, it is expected to more than double the capacity.

On projections, Sodhi says: ``The tetrapack milk market is new. Even if we get two per cent of the entire market, then it is huge. We are targeting sales of about one lakh litres per day.''

For advertising purpose, da Cunha Communications has been appointed as the ad agency. Says its vice-president Jagdish Shivdasani: ``The product is targeted at the upper middle class and above, modern-day housewife who can use it for different occasions. You can either drink it straight, use it in tea and coffee, prepare curd and lassi and also for various sweet preparations.''

The product has been positioned as a lifestyle as well as functional product. The press campaign is ready and is to be released soon. With the base line - ``the long life milk: anytime, anywhere'' - it is being shown as a solution during different usage occasions: adulteration of milk, running short of milk or when milk turns.

Says Shivdasani: ``Unlike the earlier tetrahedrons launched in 1983, this product is convenient in terms of its packaging. The samosa pack did not have the convenience of storage. The brik is convenient because it can be easily cut, used, closed, stored and reused.''

Along with the press campaign, Amul is releasing danglers, train and bus panels, hoardings etc. However, the company is not considering television commercials at this point of time since Amul Taaza still has to go national.