Satish Kumar T, CMD, Milky Mist Dairy Meals, in fireplace chat with Raghuvir Srinivasan, Editor, thehindu businessline.
| Photograph Credit score:
BIJOY GHOSH
On stage at the fifth version of businessline MSME Development Conclave 2026 in Bengaluru, businessline Editor Raghuvir Srinivasan launched Satish Kumar T with a smile. Erode could also be amongst Tamil Nadu’s hotter districts, he stated, however sitting throughout him was considered one of its coolest entrepreneurs.
Wearing a darkish swimsuit and talking with measured gestures, the Chairman & Managing Director of Milky Mist Dairy Meals seemed again at a journey that started distant from automated vegetation, international know-how and IPO discussions.
“Thirty 5 years in the past, I was travelling in the truck as a 15-year-old boy with not a lot ambition,” Kumar recalled. Coming from a farming household, he joined his father’s milk buying and selling enterprise. However the teenager needed to transfer a largely unorganised enterprise in the direction of an organised mannequin.
Paneer story
That search led him to paneer — a product that had little presence in South Indian kitchens then. Srinivasan recalled that whereas rising up in Tamil Nadu, paneer meant paneer soda (rose water), not the cottage cheese acquainted at present. Kumar’s experiments finally grew to become a enterprise. “I will talk to paneer and milk,” he quipped, describing his attachment to the product.
However constructing a model was by no means a part of the unique plan. When a grocery store purchaser informed him she couldn’t promote his paneer and not using a model identify, Kumar stated he was uncertain what branding even meant. He went to a looking centre, looked for choices utilizing Yahoo (the search engine big of these days) and picked Milky Mist from the names shortlisted.
Years later, the questions are very totally different. From making a model, Kumar is now getting ready Milky Mist for its subsequent stage of development. The enlargement journey concerned troublesome capital selections. Kumar recalled that when the firm’s topline was about ₹200 crore and debt was round ₹20 crore, it determined to borrow almost ₹480 crore to construct capability.
As the firm heads in the direction of an IPO quickly, he stated buyers and analysts typically query the scale of investments and return ratios. “Personally, I am a really, very conservative individual. When it comes to my enterprise, I don’t care about the funding,” stated Kumar, explaining his willingness to again the proper know-how.
The investments weren’t restricted to manufacturing. When Srinivasan noticed that Milky Mist is also referred to as a transport firm due to its truck fleet and chilly chain property, Kumar stated proudly owning the chilly chain was crucial. “That is farm to fork, all the pieces is in our hand,” he stated.
His recommendation to entrepreneurs was to construct credibility early. Clear transactions and clear books, he stated, helped the firm earn the confidence of bankers.
Kumar additionally pushed again in opposition to the concept that firms should transfer to metros to develop. His workplace stays above the manufacturing facility in Perundurai, Erode. Twelve minutes is all it takes for him to journey from the manufacturing facility to his house and vice versa, sending the Bengaluru viewers into peals of laughter and self-reflection.
Requested about competitors, he had an sudden reply. “Meat and hen are my opponents,” stated Kumar, pointing to the bigger consumption alternative forward.
From a young person in a milk truck to an entrepreneur taking an Erode-born firm in the direction of public markets, Kumar’s story remained about constructing scale with out transferring away from his roots.
Printed on June 25, 2026
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