Netherlands hosts Europe's only camel dairy

By Thomas Burmeister Nov 25, 2010, 3:06 GMT

Amsterdam - The Bedouin consider camel milk to be the elixir of life and it is thought to have healing powers in Asia and Africa. Camel milk is slowly gaining in popularity in the West and Europe now has its first ever camel farm and dairy in the Netherlands.

The police officers could not believe their eyes when they came upon three grazing camels in the Amsterdam district of Den Bosch, named after the famous painter Hieronymus Bosch. Residents from Morocco assured them they had nothing to do with the animals but that the camels were owned by a student who lived around the corner. That scene happened in 2006 and today Frank Smits runs what is Europe's only camel dairy.

'Camels are my passion,' says the trained agricultural scientist. 'Of all animals, camels supply the type of milk that is closest to human mother's milk.' Today, the 'Kamelmelkerij Smits' is located 15 minutes by car from Den Bosch and is enjoying growing popularity. Onlookers even travel from abroad to see camels being milked, to touch the young animals and of course to try out the product.

'It's delicious, like skimmed milk from a cow but not sweet at all,' says one woman from Germany. 'I would buy it if it was available in the supermarket.' And that is 27-year-old Smit's dream: to put camel milk on every supermarket shelf.

'It's more nutritious than cow's milk,' says Smits who has a herd of almost 50 camels. 'It's low in fat, contains hardly any sugar but it has many minerals as well as vitamin C.' It is also free of beta and lacto globulin, a protein that can cause milk-allergy.

'Diabetics feel better if they regularly drink camel milk,' says Doctor Marcel Smits, father of Frank. 'It might even turn into a new health food for Europe.' The University of Wageningen is specialised in conducting research on food and was encouraged by the Smits to carry out a long term study on the affects of consuming camel milk.

It has been known for hundreds of years by the Bedouin of Arabia and North Africa as well as camel keepers in Asia that camel milk has many healthy properties. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization confirmed a long time ago that it is more nutritious than other types of milk.

The Smits supply their product to whole food stores as well as shops owned by Moroccans, Turks and Somalis. Frank Smits spent a long time getting the permits needed to sell his milk as camels are not classified in the EU as farm livestock and are not allowed to be imported from outside the EU for that purpose. Smit's first three dromedaries came from the Caribbean islands of the Netherlands Antilles which are part of Dutch sovereign territory.

Smits has invented a milking machine designed specifically for camels and he has also learned how to deal with the animals' temperament. 'Camel mares only supply milk when they have a calf standing beside them. It also has to be their own calf,' he says. 'They first become fertile at the age of four which explains why we lend them out to zoos up until about that age.'

That high outlay means camel milk is expensive and costs about eight dollars a litre. That accounts for why the Dutch have not yet turned away from eating their beloved Gouda cheese. 'Camel cheese tastes wonderful,' says Smits. 'But we have not yet managed to make it at the right price.' Nevertheless, Smits is expanding his range of products and recently brought out the 'Kamelka,' a sweet made from '100 per cent camel milk.'

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