Camel's milk chocolates going for global market

Sweets lovers outside the Middle East will soon be able to enjoy a Dubai company's speciality: camel's milk chocolate.

Powered by automated translation

DUBAI // Sweets lovers outside the Middle East will soon be able to enjoy a Dubai company's speciality: camel's milk chocolate. Martin Van Almsick, general manager of Al Nassma, the world's first camel-milk chocolate, said the company planned to enter Saudi Arabia first, followed by Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the United States within the next few months.

Al Nassma is also in talks with the British department store Harrods and San Francisco's Chocolate Covered. Founded and owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Al Nassma was formally established last October and aims to produce 100 tonnes of premium camel-milk chocolate a year. In partnership with the Austrian chocolate-maker Manner, Al Nassma manufactures the confectionery in Dubai.

The company sells its chocolates through a store at its farm in the emirate, where it has 3,000 camels, as well as in luxury hotels and some airlines. It plans to launch an online shopping facility within a month, Mr Van Almsick said. The company is set to open its second store in the UAE in one of Dubai's large malls and is in talks with the mall operator Majid Al Futtaim, he said. "We aim to be the Godiva of the Middle East," Mr Van Almsick said. "It's a luxury product, so we will never be in supermarkets. The plan is to be in one mall in each UAE city."

Al Nassma is also looking at setting up a store in Japan, where demand for the product is high, he said. Camel's milk is seen as healthier than cow's milk, containing five times more vitamin C, less fat, less lactose and more insulin, making it a good option for diabetics and the lactose intolerant. * Reuters