Milky Mist IPO: Sathish Kumar Sold 10 Kg Paneer, Here's How Did A School Dropout Build A ₹10,778-Crore Company?

Mumbai: Sathish Kumar T. left school at 16 to help his family’s struggling milk business in Erode, Tamil Nadu. His father and uncle had earlier run a powerloom unit, but it closed. The family then began buying milk, cooling it and sending nearly 3,000 litres to Bengaluru. Low margins, however, made the business difficult, and it shut in 1992.

The Paneer Experiment

Kumar noticed that a Bengaluru customer turned milk into paneer and sold it to hotels. He saw an opportunity, although nobody in his family knew how to make paneer commercially. With no Google or YouTube for guidance, he began experimenting by heating milk and using vinegar to curdle it.

Many attempts failed and milk was wasted. Still, Kumar kept improving the paneer’s quality and texture. In 1993, he carried his first 10 kg batch in a bag to Bengaluru. Dealers sold it to hotels and restaurants. By 1995, the business was selling around 50–100 kg of paneer daily.

Building Milky Mist

The family stopped selling liquid milk and used it to make paneer instead. This decision became the foundation of Milky Mist. Kumar understood that products such as paneer offered better value and margins than milk, which spoiled quickly and faced competition.

The Milky Mist brand was created in 1997. The company later expanded into curd, butter, ghee, cheese, yoghurt, ice cream and UHT products. It also developed brands including SmartChef, Capella and Misty Lite.

Growth And IPO

Milky Mist invested in refrigerated vehicles, cold storage and cooling equipment at shops. This helped it control product quality from factory to retail shelf. It launched its first television advertisement for paneer in 2010 and continued expanding across product categories.

Revenue rose from Rs 1,826.86 crore in 2024 to Rs 3,145.01 crore in 2026. Profit after tax increased from Rs 19.44 crore to Rs 127.01 crore during the period.

Now valued at Rs 10,778 crore, Milky Mist is launching a Rs 1,553-crore IPO on August 11, 2026. It includes a Rs 1,428-crore fresh issue and a Rs 125-crore offer for sale.