Israeli-made camel-milking system installed in Dubai
By
ALISA ODENHEIMER, BLOOMBERG
02/06/2007 07:09
The sale of camel milk could become a $10 billion industry, providing food to people in desert areas and income for nomadic herders, according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization.
camel biz feat 88 298 Photo: Courtesy
A camel-milking system largely manufactured by Israel's S.A.E. Afikim that can simultaneously milk 48 camels, was sold by Afikim's British distributor, to a buyer in Dubai, the Jordan Valley-based company said Sunday. The statement didn't identify the buyer.
Israel and Dubai don't have diplomatic relations.
Cooperation between Israeli companies and the nation's foreign ministry "is the best way to enter new markets in which only intervention on the level of governments can open doors for Israeli manufacturers," Afikim Chief Executive Officer Yossi Shemer said in the statement.
The sale of camel milk could become a $10 billion industry, providing food to people in desert areas and income for nomadic herders, according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization. Camel milk is three times richer in vitamin C than milk from cows and contains vitamin B, iron and unsaturated fatty acids. Camels produce as much as 20 liters of milk a day, compared with as much as 36 liters a day for cows.
Nutritional and other benefits could make the product attractive to about 200 million potential Arab customers, as well as others in Africa and other parts of the globe, according to the FAO.
Emirates Industry for Camel Milk & Products, a company owned by Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, last September started selling bottled camel milk, branded "Camelicious," in the United Arab Emirates.
Afikim's computerized Afimilk system measures milk production in real time, and alerts farmers to any deviation in performance, thus allowing early detection and treatment of udder disease, according to the company's Web site.
Afikim developed the systems and equipment sold to Dubai.
The British distributor handled the installation, the Israeli company said.
Israel's foreign ministry plans to advance marketing efforts of similar systems in Arab and Muslim countries and also in Asian nations where camel milk is commonly drunk, Haim Divon, the foreign ministry's deputy director general for international cooperation said in the statement. (Bloomberg)