Powered by buffalo milk and strategic incentives, India emerges as a powerful competitor in the high-value global cheese trade.
India is rapidly asserting itself as a dynamic new entrant in the global mozzarella market, a segment historically dominated by Western exporters. Government trade data confirms a staggering acceleration, with mozzarella exports jumping over 1,200% year-on-year, reaching $3.29 million in the April–September 2025 period, from nearly nil just two years prior. This dramatic surge signals a critical juncture for the country’s dairy value chain and occurs even as key trading partners continue to press New Delhi for greater access to its massive domestic dairy market, including high-value cheese products.
The core of India’s competitive advantage lies in its vast bovine resource—the world’s largest buffalo population. Mozzarella produced from buffalo milk naturally possesses a firmer texture and higher fat content, characteristics highly preferred for pizza, which is driving booming global demand. This buffalo milk cheese provides India with a distinct, differentiated product, especially when contrasted with the technical and cost challenges associated with exporting aged products like cheddar, which requires prolonged storage and strong international branding.
This export momentum is not organic alone; it has been significantly amplified by strategic government intervention. The 2021 inclusion of mozzarella under the national PLI scheme (Production-Linked Incentive) for food processing, backed by an outlay of ₹10,900 crore, incentivized dairy firms to rapidly expand capacity and upgrade technology. This policy spurred major investments, notably Amul’s ₹200 crore commitment to scaling up buffalo-milk mozzarella manufacturing and export capabilities, cementing confidence in India’s ability to compete on the global dairy commodity market.
The market footprint of Indian mozzarella is expanding rapidly across diverse geographies. Key destinations now include major import markets such as Saudi Arabia, which has quickly become the largest buyer, along with Sri Lanka, Japan, Bangladesh, and Bahrain. This shift toward value-added production represents a significant move for the Indian dairy sector. While the nation remains the world’s largest milk producer, its overall dairy exports still account for only a fraction of global trade, historically dominated by low-value products like milk powder and casein.
Industry analysts and cooperative leaders agree that the spike in mozzarella exports provides compelling evidence that the sector is successfully moving up the value chain. This success showcases the potential for Indian cooperatives to compete globally through targeted investments in technology and robust quality systems. With India Ratings projecting milk output to grow by 5% annually, reaching 277 million tonnes by FY27, the success of mozzarella provides a clear blueprint for future expansion into other high-value dairy products and increased sophistication in the international trade arena.
Source: Read the full original report at Mint.
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