Journalist ASM Reza has bought Milk Vita for his daughter for years, but when he popped out on Wednesday morning only to find a single litre had shot up overnight from Tk100 to Tk110, he was left gobsmacked.
Speaking to TIMES of Bangladesh, a frustrated Reza lamented that he had bought the same milk for Tk100 just two days prior.
When he questioned the sudden jump, staff simply told him the company had raised it. “Now I have to give it to my daughter. What else can I do?” he added.
State-run entities typically issue official press releases or public statements through the media before hiking prices, yet Milk Vita, officially the Bangladesh Milk Producer’s Co-Operative Union Ltd, opted for total radio silence.
There was no formal announcement, no press note, and not a single mention on the organisation’s website.
When contacted later, Amiyo Kumar Mondal, Deputy General Manager of Milk Vita’s Society Department, confirmed the price hike.
Finding out the reasoning behind the surge, however, proved nearly impossible.
A classic round of bureaucratic buck-passing ensued, with one official repeatedly referring the matter to another.
After bouncing from department to department, the query landed right back on Mondal’s desk. Deflecting further, he described himself as merely a “junior official” and declined to comment.
Despite the wall of silence, it was revealed that while consumers are facing a Tk10 mark-up at retail, the government-backed institution is upping its purchase price, the payout to local dairy farmers, by a paltry Tk3.
When asked what the new purchase price had become, Mondal claimed it depends strictly on quality, with buying rates ranging between Tk43 and Tk103 per litre, averaging around Tk62.
Pressed on whether selling milk at Tk110 on an average buy-in of Tk62 represents an excessive profit margin, Mondal clammed up, advising journalists to speak with Managing Director Zahidul Islam instead.
Conveniently, Islam’s office stated he was away on leave until Sunday. Meanwhile, Finance Deputy Manager Firoz Ahmed Khan simply redirected queries back to the Planning and Development Department, where Mondal works.
Local dairy farmers were equally baffled by the official claim that Milk Vita pays anywhere near Tk103 per litre.
Mostak Ahmed, a farmer from Pabna, scoffed at the numbers, noting he typically receives between Tk40 and Tk50 per litre, with rates fluctuating based on advance payments provided by collection managers.
Another local farmer, Liton Ahmed, who owns 10 cows and manages 65 member-farmers, said his most recent supply fetched just Tk51 per litre. Liton explained that while he receives a small transport allowance of Tk1.88 per litre for traveling 8 kilometres, plus a Tk1 commission, the overall margins remain razor-thin.
With consumers squeezed at retail and farmers receiving crumbs, Milk Vita’s massive markup leaves a glaring question mark over where the money is actually going.
Is Milk Vita turning an excessive profit?
Asked whether charging consumers Tk110 per litre on a Tk62 average buy-in was justified, Professor Akhtaruzzaman of the Department of Agricultural Economics at Bangladesh Agricultural University told TIMES that the markup certainly appears steep.
He explained that beyond basic chilling, packaging, and transport, milk marketing carries relatively low overheads, especially given that Milk Vita also generates revenue from lucrative dairy by-products.
Noting that fresh milk sells for Tk55 to Tk60 in rural villages and Tk70 to Tk80 in local towns, he added pointedly, “The organisation falls under the Ministry of Cooperatives, where irregularities are rife. I do not know whether this price hike was simply orchestrated to cover up internal mismanagment.”
Echoing these concerns, Jahangir Alam, former Director General of the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI), branded the near 100% markup on purchase costs completely unreasonable.
He stressed that as a government entity, Milk Vita’s primary mandate is public service, not aggressive profit-seeking, warning that its actions set a dangerous precedent for private competitors to follow suit and further squeeze everyday households.
Raising eyebrows over why a state enterprise would lead the charge on price hikes while profit-driven private firms held their rates steady, Alam added, “Ordinary people are already reeling from rampant inflation, and the government is actively seeking ways to provide relief. Milk Vita should have been exploring ways to cut costs to support that mission, rather than taking a step that actively fuels inflation. It is utterly unacceptable.”
