Every Diwali, sweets are exchanged between families, friends, customers and colleagues. At RGS Vet Nutraceuticals Coy in Erode, one question led the team to look at the tradition a little differently: if cows provide the milk and ghee that are so closely associated with the festival, why should they not receive a sweet of their own?
That thought eventually became Go-Swasti, described by the company as India’s first laddu developed specifically for cows. Now entering its fourth year, the initiative has become an annual Diwali tradition for RGS and the farming community around its Kamadhenu cattle feed business.
The story behind it goes back much further. R.G. Sundar & Co, known as RGS Feeds, began as a small mill in Erode in 1979 under K. Ganapathi Chettiar and his Son G.Sundaram . Today, the family business works with farmers across South India through its Kamadhenu cattle feed range.
Go-Swasti was introduced by his grandson S. Ramamoorthy, a third-generation entrepreneur and CEO of RGS Vet Nutraceuticals Coy.
A Diwali Sweet Made for Go Mata
The idea began with the company’s usual festive gifting.
“Every Diwali, we give gifts to our dealers and farmer customers. One day the thought came to us: the cow is the pillar of farming, so why does she get no sweet?” Ramamoorthy says.
The company’s R&D team subsequently worked with veterinarians on a formulation that could combine the festive idea of a laddu with ingredients suited to cattle.
Go-Swasti is made using jaggery syrup, bran, maize flour, yeast, vitamins, herbs and minerals. For Diwali 2026, the laddu also includes jackfruit pulp, a flavour the company says is particularly appealing to cows.
According to RGS, one laddu provides approximately 30 grams of minerals and vitamins.
For Ramamoorthy, the intention was to create something that carried the warmth of festive gifting while remaining relevant to the animal receiving it.
From a Festive Idea to a Wider Nutrition Format
Over the past three years, the initiative has been distributed among farmers connected with the Kamadhenu network.
The response, according to the company, has been particularly warm because the gift is meant for the animal at the centre of a dairy farmer’s everyday work.
RGS now plans to take the format beyond Diwali.
The company is exploring laddus designed to make certain nutritional and animal-health products easier to administer, particularly in cases where cows may refuse them in their conventional form.
Among the products being planned are formulations for bloating and indigestion around the Pongal season, along with deworming laddus.
The idea follows the company’s wider philosophy of “Healthy Cow, Prosperous Farmer”, linking animal health closely with the livelihood of the farming family.
Taking the Tradition Into Its Fourth Year
For Diwali 2026, RGS is also encouraging people beyond its farmer network to participate.
The company is inviting people to offer a Go-Swasti laddu to a cow at home, on a farm, at a goshala or near a temple, photograph the moment and share it on social media using #FirstLadduForGomata.
Participants can also share their photographs with the company through WhatsApp at 97897 74166.
What began as a simple question inside a family-run business has now returned for its fourth festive season. For RGS, the thought behind Go-Swasti remains unchanged: if Diwali is a celebration of gratitude, the animals that remain part of everyday agricultural life can have a place in that celebration too.
