CAMEL MILK IS MAKING ITS WAY INTO CHOCOLATE, GIVING HERDERS NEW HOPE
comes with a twist. Sahjeevan organises it so that the herds take turns to deposit milk at a centre in Kutch as they migrate, keeping milk inflow constant. “In the last six months, we’ve sold GCMMF 1,200 litres,” says
Ramesh Bhatti, who leads Sahjeevan’s centre for pastoralism. The bulk of it has gone to Amul, the rest to niche brands like Aadvik, which sells camel-milk powder, bottled milk and milkbased skincare products.
The specialty chocolate makes up barely 3% of Amul’s total chocolate production. There isn’t enough to distribute nationally. “Most shopkeepers don’t know about it,” Sodhi says, but online, the stock is selling steadily.
Bhatti says the results are evident among the herders. “There is a sense of optimism and hope. The herders’ children, who would have taken up jobs as truck drivers, goat herders or farmers, are taking up camel rearing for now,” he says.
The plan now is to get India on board with the idea of milk from a camel. Studies show that it is lower in cholesterol and better for diabetics and Kohler-rollefson believes it will be easier to popularise as a health food than a specialty one.
Mass marketing, however, will be easiest for Amul. “We need to produce more milk, set up more centres and get more people interested in it. It’s that simple,” Bhatti says.
“Our job is to help people in the dairy business, change lives for the better,” Sodhi adds. “It doesn’t matter if the animal they’re rearing is a cow, buffalo or camel.”