Rajesh Chatterjee, CEO, Milkio Foods Limited
Ghee has been around for centuries. It has survived changing food habits, travelled across generations, and remained a staple in kitchens where its distinctive flavour, aroma, and numerous health benefits are deeply valued. Yet its appeal extends well beyond the traditional kitchen. Today, ghee is finding new relevance as a premium dairy fat and versatile ingredient across retail, foodservice, and modern food manufacturing. As these applications continue to grow, so too does the need for producers who can bring the qualities of traditional ghee together with the consistency, quality, and capabilities expected of a modern food industry.
That balance between tradition and modern food manufacturing has been central to Milkio Foods Limited from the beginning. Founded in New Zealand in 2016, the company began with a clear conviction: ghee could retain its traditional qualities while meeting the standards of a modern global food industry. At the time, the market had many traditional ghee products, yet there was a clear need for greater consistency, reliable specifications, traceability, and dependable international supply.
The company therefore set out to combine the heritage of ghee with New Zealand’s strong dairy reputation, modern manufacturing capabilities, and rigorous food-safety standards, creating products that customers could trust not only in their kitchens, but across consumer and commercial food applications. What began as a vision for premium-quality ghee has since grown into an international dairy-fat business trusted in more than 29 countries. Along the way, Milkio has expanded its portfolio from grass-fed cow ghee to sheep and goat ghee, ghee powder, specialised blends, and, most recently, a dedicated range of premium butter products. The new butter portfolio includes Pure Butter, Lactic Butter, and Buttery Spread, giving customers greater choice across different applications and market requirements.
Building Trust beyond the Product
Building a reputation in an established industry is rarely easy, particularly for a new manufacturer. For Milkio, one of the biggest challenges in its early years was earning credibility and building customer trust through consistent product quality and reliable supply. As the company began entering international markets, it also had to adapt to different product specifications, packaging, documentation, certifications, and logistical requirements. Maintaining consistency while responding to these differences required Milkio to strengthen its capabilities and deepen its understanding of international markets. “These experiences became important learning opportunities, helping the company broaden its operational scope while shaping a culture centred on quality, responsiveness, and continuous improvement,” shares Rajesh Chatterjee, the Founder of Milkio Foods.
From Local Roots to Global Reach
For Milkio, international growth meant building the systems and capabilities needed to deliver consistent standards across different markets. The company invested in manufacturing systems, quality control, traceability, documentation, packaging, and export logistics, while also developing the expertise needed to meet the varying requirements of international customers. “Milkio also had to understand the different requirements of international markets and customers. Retailers, distributors, foodservice operators, and food manufacturers often require different pack formats, specifications, and applications,” explains Chatterjee.
But international supply is built on more than systems and infrastructure. Strong relationships with customers and international partners became equally important, particularly as Milkio worked across different markets and customer segments. The company therefore placed emphasis on clear communication, dependable quality, and reliable delivery while strengthening its relationships across its international customer and partner network. This capability has become increasingly relevant as Milkio broadens its portfolio beyond ghee, with its new butter range designed to serve diverse requirements across professional kitchens, baking, confectionery, foodservice, and other food applications.
Over time, this combination of investment, adaptability, and relationship-building enabled Milkio to broaden its reach, expand its product portfolio, and serve increasingly diverse markets.
Quality from Source to Finished Product
For Milkio, premium ghee begins with the quality of the dairy fat itself. The underlying milk fat influences the flavour, aroma, colour, texture, and consistency of the finished product. This makes sourcing an important part of Milkio’s production approach, with the company placing strong emphasis on grass-fed dairy as part of its New Zealand sourcing practices. The objective is to begin with quality dairy ingredients and maintain control throughout the manufacturing process to achieve a consistent finished product. As Chatterjee puts it, “Ghee is a concentrated dairy-fat product, so the quality of the starting material matters greatly. Milkio addresses this through an approved supplier programme for sourcing raw materials, which is one of several factors that together support a consistently high-quality outcome.”
However, the process does not end with sourcing. Controlled processing, including small-batch, precision-led manufacturing, along with quality testing, packaging, and storage, contributes to the final product. The same emphasis on consistency extends to Milkio’s butter range, with its Pure and Lactic Unsalted Butter offerings delivering an 82% typical total fat content and being developed for applications ranging from baking and cooking to sauces, sautéing, and confectionery. Its Buttery Spread further broadens the portfolio with a lactic, unsalted formulation suited to spreading and food preparation. The company takes an end-to-end approach, maintaining attention to each stage from the quality of the dairy input through to the finished product delivered to customers around the world.
A Leading New Zealand Ghee Brand in South Korea
Today, Milkio is trusted in more than 29 countries, with South Korea emerging as one of its strongest international markets. Through online retail, the company has built a substantial customer base for its ghee products, with multiple SKUs attracting thousands of customer reviews across its Korean listings. This growing presence reflects Milkio’s ability to understand local consumer preferences while retaining the New Zealand origin and quality positioning at the heart of its products.
The company has established a strong presence in Korea’s growing ghee category, particularly through Coupang, one of the country’s leading e-commerce platforms. Its products have gained traction across multiple pack formats, with the 500 ml grass-fed ghee listing currently displaying over 4,000 customer reviews and the 800 ml listing accumulating nearly 800 customer reviews.
For Milkio, these numbers represent more than successful online sales. They point to a stronger foothold for the brand among Korean consumers and demonstrate that the company has moved beyond simply exporting ghee to establishing a meaningful presence in the market. Milkio has responded to the market by focusing on product quality, its New Zealand origin, grass-fed dairy positioning, and convenient retail formats suited to local preferences. “For Milkio, Korea represents more than an export market; it is a strategic growth market and an important part of the company’s broader Asia-Pacific expansion strategy,” affirms Chatterjee.
Responsibility That Runs Deeper
At the heart of Milkio’s growth is a commitment to maintaining quality and reliability at every stage of its operations, from sourcing and manufacturing through testing, packaging, and delivery. This includes selecting appropriate dairy inputs, following controlled manufacturing procedures, monitoring product specifications, and maintaining the documentation needed to support traceability. Rather than treating food safety as a final checkpoint, Milkio integrates quality and safety considerations throughout its operations. This discipline becomes even more important as the company serves customers across diverse international markets, each with its own regulatory and logistical requirements. “As an international manufacturer, Milkio understands that customers need confidence not only in the product itself but also in the systems behind it. This is particularly important given the number of markets and regulatory environments the company operates across,” notes Chatterjee. The company therefore works closely with suppliers, distributors, customers, and logistics partners to ensure accurate information, documentation, and reliable delivery. “Milkio stands apart with uncompromising quality and assured food safety. We carefully select our dairy ingredients and commit to sustainability through fully traceable processes,” adds Chatterjee.
Milkio’s focus on quality and commitment to integrity and respect has earned the company prestigious recognition in the global dairy industry. Its Grass-fed Sheep Ghee was selected as a finalist in the Butter/Dairy Spread Innovation category at the World Dairy Innovation Awards in 2023, while its Ghee Powder won the award in 2022 and its A2 Organic Ghee was selected as a finalist in 2021.
Expanding the Global Vision
As Milkio Foods looks to the future, its focus remains on strengthening its position as a globally recognised New Zealand dairy-fat business known for quality, innovation, consistency, and dependable international supply. The company’s recent expansion into premium butter marks an important step in this evolution, broadening its offering from a strong ghee portfolio into a more comprehensive range of dairy-fat solutions for global customers. It plans to deepen its presence in existing markets while expanding into strategically important regions, supported by continued investment in product development and international supply capabilities.
Innovation will remain central to this growth. With the addition of Pure Butter, Lactic Butter, and Buttery Spread, Milkio sees further opportunities to develop dairy-fat solutions tailored to different customer needs, applications, and market formats. The butter range is designed to serve both professional and commercial applications, including baking, cooking, confectionery, and food preparation, while its flexible pack formats support retail as well as bulk requirements.
At the same time, the company intends to deepen its relationships with distributors, food manufacturers, retailers, and other industry partners, recognising that lasting growth is built through strong commercial relationships and a clear understanding of customer needs. Beyond business expansion, Milkio hopes to contribute to the global food and beverage industry by demonstrating how a traditional product such as ghee can be developed into a modern, internationally relevant food ingredient. “At its core, Milkio’s long-term ambition is to bring high-quality New Zealand dairy fats to more customers around the world while creating sustainable value for its customers, partners and the wider food industry,” concludes Chatterjee.