Drive into Dubai’s Al Quoz district and the dusty aura of this warehouse-lined industrial area is hard to ignore.
But for a few hours a week, the soft fragrances of lavender and lemongrass waft out of one warehouse front in zone four.
This is when The Camel Soap Factory manufactures its soap bars, made from camel milk, olive oil and beeswax.
Stevi Lowmass, the brand’s founder and chief executive, moved into the company’s 2,800 square feet warehouse in April.
“I wanted to create something that would be a part of the UAE, was hand-made and that was not dates,” says the 56-year-old South African.
Products made from camel milk such as cosmetics and food are gaining traction in the local market, especially among tourists, say entrepreneurs in the industry. While data from the UAE is not available, according to a 2013 report from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), globally camel milk forms less than 1 per cent of total milk production and makes a notable contribution only in sub-Saharan Africa.
But a small and growing export market also exists in the UAE, says Ms Lowmass.
The Emirates Industry for Camel Milk and Products, which founded the camel milk brand Camelicious in 2006, started exporting its milk to the UK in January. It will soon also export to Germany, the Netherlands and France.
Al Nassma, a camel milk chocolate producer, tied up with Germany’s Gebr Heinemann in June to supply duty free shops at European airports.
And the cafe chain Cafe2go, which launched in 2011, made 15 per cent of its cafe food items such as milkshakes from camel milk when it launched. As of this quarter, 42 per cent of its items such as gelato, milkshakes and cappuccino as well as camel cheese salad and hot dogs are made from camel milk and meat.
“This shows the demand from the local population,” says Jassim Al Bastaki, the founder and director general of Cafe2go.
The chain, which has nine outlets in the UAE, expects to open a Ras Al Khaimah branch this year and expand to Kenya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Spain and the UK by the end of next year’s first quarter. It also hopes to introduce the camel meat brand, Camellos, to hypermarkets. Cafe2go is one of the seven companies shortlisted for Emirati Business of the Year at this year’s Gulf Capital SME Awards.
Meanwhile The Camel Soap Factory is a finalist in the RSA Start-up Business of the Year category.
For Ms Lowmass, formerly a general manager at a software company, soap-making was always an interest.
Four years ago, the entrepreneur started experimenting in a shed at her Dubai villa and invested in a hand soap cutter and moulds.
Then in February last year, she secured a licence to start manufacturing from her home, but the fledgling company quickly outgrew the space.
“I didn’t want to be an artisan, I wanted to be bigger than that,” she says.
Despite first selling the products at school fairs and to one outlet — the upmarket gift store Al Jaber Gallery — she has since expanded to Jumeirah Group’s hotels, Fakih Group of Companies and Laverne in Abu Dhabi. She is also supplying Dubai Duty Free through Al Jaber Gallery.
Her initial investment of Dh300,000 went to buy equipment for bulk supply. It cost another Dh600,000 to secure the industrial licence and to get the production line going. The company now employs four people.
In December Ms Lowmass, who first moved to Dubai with her husband and daughter in 2002, won her first round of external funding of Dh750,000. She has plans for a second round next year to hire support staff such as drivers.
While about 70 per cent of her sales go to retailers, her first export shipment to Germany last October was followed by repeat orders. She started supplying to a high-end retailer in India two months ago. Ms Lowmass manufactures eight types of fragrant soaps with an output of around 5,000 pieces a month during the summer; this figure can double in the months ahead of the festive season. The factory’s capacity is around 50,000 pieces a month.
With the rise in demand, she is considering using the shavings, the leftovers of the soap bar manufacturing, to produce a soft bath soap for children. She also plans on introducing a more expensive hand soap option containing a higher percentage of camel milk in oud, musk and rose fragrances.
The soap bars currently contain 25 per cent camel milk, and sell for Dh30 apiece. While business is good, Ms Lowmass says there is still work to be done.
“A most conservative estimate would be end of next year for break even,” Ms Lowmass says.
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