The Dairy Development Department was established in Tamil Nadu in 1958 and the administrative and statutory control of all the milk co-operative societies in the state came under its jurisdiction. The Co-operative Milk Producers' Federation Limited was registered on 1 February 1981 and the commercial activities like procurement, processing, chilling, packing and sale of milk were transferred from the department to the Federation, which was called Aavin. The dairy units in the state operate in a three-tier model at state, district and village levels. Aavin was one of the few original agencies using vendor machines in India. Booths were run in the capital city where flavoured milk, milk sweets, ghee, butter and plain milk are sold. Each year, the organization introduced new products. The agency provided high-quality milk at reasonably low cost in the state.
