Bengaluru: Your benne dosa, laddoos, and homemade ghee rice are set to pinch. As households continue to grapple with rising fuel and food costs, the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) on Thursday announced a price hike for its flagship Nandini ghee and butter, effective July 24 (Friday).Under the revised prices, a one-litre pouch of Nandini ghee will cost Rs 715, up from Rs 700, while the price of a one-kilogram pack of butter has increased to Rs 660 from Rs 610.The latest hike comes barely eight months after KMF last revised prices in Nov 2025, making it the second increase within a year. While hotels have ruled out an immediate increase in menu prices, sweet manufacturers say the timing could not have been worse, with the festive season around the corner.KMF, which procures nearly 1.05 crore litres of milk every day and sells around 50 lakh litres through retail packets, attributed the latest revision to an acute shortage of milk fat caused by widening supply-demand imbalances. Drought-like conditions in neighbouring Maharashtra have not only impacted milk production but also squeezed the availability of raw milk fat—the key ingredient used to manufacture ghee and butter—triggering a sharp rise in demand for these products. Also, stricter nationwide enforcement against adulterated milk, ghee and other dairy products has pushed more households, restaurants and food manufacturers towards trusted brands such as Nandini, further fuelling demand.“The surge in demand from neighbouring states and other metros, coupled with rising procurement costs, brought on the hike,” a senior KMF official said.The increase has triggered mixed reactions from the food industry. Bengaluru Hotels Association president P C Rao said restaurants would not immediately revise menu prices. “It is a small hike and we will continue sourcing from Nandini,” he said.Sweet manufacturers, however, seemed grim. With ghee and butter forming the backbone of traditional Indian sweets, they said the increase would push up production costs by around 3% to 5%. Ahead of the festive season, many manufacturers said they may have no choice but to revise the prices of popular delicacies.
