China's demand for camel milk is growing every year - Kairzhan Meirambekov, Eurasia Invest Ltd
Source: The DairyNews
Great demand for camel milk powder from the Chinese began during the pandemic, when the healing properties of this product were discovered. Today, there are three large camel milk processing plants in Kazakhstan, built by Chinese entrepreneurs, and two Kazakh ones, which actively export dried camel milk to China. Kairzhan Meirambekov, deputy general director of the investment company “Eurasia Invest Ltd” for the production of powdered camel and mare milk, spoke to The DairyNews correspondent about the problems of the market and ways to solve them.
As Kairzhan Meirambekov said, two Kazakh companies for processing camel milk are located in the city of Arys, and another one is planned to open in 2024 in Aralsk. The Chinese built their large factories in the cities of Turkestan, Burundai and Kaskelen. But, despite the abundance of processing companies, the country faces an acute shortage of raw materials.
“In our country there are no large or medium-sized farms that could supply high-quality milk. These are mostly small households that milk their camels by hand and sell the milk to factories. In Turkestan, for example, one plant can receive up to 100 tons of fresh milk per day, but it collects a maximum of 4-5 tons. The lack of selection work in dairy camel breeding also does not allow obtaining good milk yields. Accordingly, it is not profitable for some farms to breed camels. For example, if you want to buy a good camel, you simply won’t find it in the local market,” says Kairzhan Meirambekov.
The entrepreneur believes that now it is important to take advantage of the opportunities of the current market trend and develop the industry using the example of Arab producers and processors of camel milk.
“I have seen farms in the UAE that milk up to 10,000 camels, and they have all the processes automated. Mechanized milking also allows you to increase the volume of milk. I have seen camels that can produce an average of 25-30 liters of milk per day. The Arabs claim that they have camels that can produce up to 40 liters of milk per day. Demand from the Chinese is growing every year, so we need to think about creating modern farms like the Arab ones,” says Kairzhan Meirambekov.
In 2024, the entrepreneur plans to organize his own camel farm and invite Arab specialists who will help implement all modern technologies and share their experience.
“On the new farm we plan to use all the modern experience of dairy camel farming. The first is mechanized milking: when milk from the udder goes through pipes immediately into a cooling tank, it will allow you to get high-quality, clean milk. The second is proper feeding, i.e. In addition to pasture grazing, we plan to feed them with enriched protein nutrition so that the camels have enough milk. Third, selection work: we plan to import embryos from the best dairy breeds and perform transplantation,” the entrepreneur shared his plans.
“In our country there are no large or medium-sized farms that could supply high-quality milk. These are mostly small households that milk their camels by hand and sell the milk to factories. In Turkestan, for example, one plant can receive up to 100 tons of fresh milk per day, but it collects a maximum of 4-5 tons. The lack of selection work in dairy camel breeding also does not allow obtaining good milk yields. Accordingly, it is not profitable for some farms to breed camels. For example, if you want to buy a good camel, you simply won’t find it in the local market,” says Kairzhan Meirambekov.
The entrepreneur believes that now it is important to take advantage of the opportunities of the current market trend and develop the industry using the example of Arab producers and processors of camel milk.
“I have seen farms in the UAE that milk up to 10,000 camels, and they have all the processes automated. Mechanized milking also allows you to increase the volume of milk. I have seen camels that can produce an average of 25-30 liters of milk per day. The Arabs claim that they have camels that can produce up to 40 liters of milk per day. Demand from the Chinese is growing every year, so we need to think about creating modern farms like the Arab ones,” says Kairzhan Meirambekov.
In 2024, the entrepreneur plans to organize his own camel farm and invite Arab specialists who will help implement all modern technologies and share their experience.
“On the new farm we plan to use all the modern experience of dairy camel farming. The first is mechanized milking: when milk from the udder goes through pipes immediately into a cooling tank, it will allow you to get high-quality, clean milk. The second is proper feeding, i.e. In addition to pasture grazing, we plan to feed them with enriched protein nutrition so that the camels have enough milk. Third, selection work: we plan to import embryos from the best dairy breeds and perform transplantation,” the entrepreneur shared his plans.
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