Dubai: Camels are now rubbing off on consumers, literally.
The Camel Soap Factory, a manufacturer of soaps containing camel milk, opened its first factory yesterday in Dubai.
Stevi Lowmass, the company’s founder, started producing camel milk soaps four years ago from her home, which were sold at art markets run by Dubai-based The Artisans of the Emirates (ARTE) before being displayed in gift shops in the UAE last year. Currently, the company produces 10,000 soap bars a month in the UAE and is looking to expand to the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
The new 2,800 square foot factory in Al Quoz, which is valued at half- a-million dirhams, is expected to boost production to 40,000-50,000 soap bars a month.
The soaps contain at least 25 per cent camel milk, which is supplied by dairy product Camelicious using milk from camels in the UAE. They are “natural”, Lowmass said, containing no artificial colours or fragrance.
“Demand for natural soaps [in the UAE] has gone up,” Lowmass said, adding that they are popular with both residents and tourists. She expects demand to gain momentum in the next 3-5 years.
Currently, the soaps, which cost Dh30 a bar, are sold in Dubai and Abu Dhabi by Al Jaber Gallery, a gift and souvenir chain in the UAE. Locations include Souq Al Bahar, Madinat Jumeirah, The Dubai Mall and Ibn Battuta Mall, among others. The soaps are also sold in different stores in Abu Dhabi, such as Laverne. It plans to have its products sold in Sharjah in the short-term.
Mers impact
Lowmass said that fear of the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), which is found in camels, has not impacted sales. “Our supplier is scanning the milk,” she said. “We are getting our milk from safe herds.”
Given the demand for the soaps, The Camel Soap Factory is in discussions with Al Jaber Gallery to expand to Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, according to Lowmass. The company is also looking to enter the hotel, tourist trade, corporate gift and duty free markets, she said. And it is in talks with department store Bloomingdale’s to sell its products, she said, adding that expanding to the luxury retail market could “potentially” mean producing a different product.
“We have been approached by the bigger [retail] chains to come up with products for them, branded for them,” she added.
Also, The Camel Soap Factory started exporting its products to Germany last year and to India last week.
