Dairy emerges as the epicentre of India’s counterfeit FMCG market

Dairy products like milk, khoya, cheese, and ghee are the top targets of adulteration and counterfeiting in India’s FMCG sector.

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A majority of counterfeiting cases are reported in the dairy and beauty categories, as per the Aspa-Crisil report.

(ISTOCKPHOTO)

Counterfeiting reported a 2.5x jump to 187 reported incidents in 2025 from 2018, per the Aspa-Crisil State of Counterfeiting in India report, mostly in milk-based products.

A majority of counterfeiting cases are reported in the dairy and beauty categories—segments where safe concerns and brand equity are especially sensitive, the report said.

“Small-scale producers and local vendors often lack the capital or technical expertise to implement advanced tracking systems,” said Swapnil Bharadwaj, a quality and regulatory affairs expert on the sidelines of the TAF Connect Conference held by the Authentication Solution Providers' Association (Aspa).