March 16: It is going to "delight" hearts this summer. A brand new flavoured milk, christened Delight and marketed by West Assam Milk Producers’ Co-operative Union Ltd or Purabi Dairy, is set to hit the city market in the first week of April.

Managing director of the co-operative Jiyauddin Choudhury said, "This is our first venture in flavoured milk and we will launch the product it in four flavours — kesar, pista, mango and elaichi."

This cool drink will be available in 200-ml bottles and will cost Rs 10. "In fact, it will be a healthy substitute for a cold drink. It will be nutritious as well as tasty," said Choudhury.

"The product will have a shelf life of minimum 60 days and will be distributed through our retailers and distributors in the city initially. Gradually we will branch out to the other northeastern states," he added.

Confident that the new product would be a success, he said, "Quality-wise, we can compete with any other flavoured milk in the market. Logistically, too, we are better placed as we can supply fresh milk almost every day." Purabi Dairy will launch 50,000 bottles as a test and distribute approximately 5,000 bottles per day.

The main objective of Purabi Dairy is to procure milk locally and lessen dependence on milk from outside the state.

"We also try to generate awareness on the various aspects of milk adulteration among the consumers," he said.

He said 88.5 per cent households were not aware of pasteurisation of milk and 94.8 per cent households did not know about the implication of pasteurisation of milk.

He added that 99.6 per cent of Guwahati households were not even aware of homogenisation of milk.

Purabi Milk is marketed in Guwahati through a network of 418 retail booths in the city with each booth covering around 500 households. Milk is supplied twice a day, in the morning and evening, to the retailers through 13 route vehicles to cater to the domestic demand of milk in the areas.

Purabi gives all the details of its products and the organisation itself in its official website.: www.purabi.netfirms.com