TikTok gives British consumers a taste for Dubai camel milk

Shop owner's viral video shows camel milk is becoming big business in the UK

Camelicious instant coffee on display at the Gulffood exhibition at Dubai World Trade Centre in in February 2021. Chilled cans of camel milk are becoming popular in the UK. Antonie Robertson / The NationalShow less

Camel milk is set to become the latest craze for generation TikTok, thanks to some unlikely assistance from a shop owner in northern England.

Customers are already driving more than 150 kilometres to shop at Wakefield Wines after videos of owner Mohammed Az Nazir’s went viral on TikTok.

Despite the name 'Wakey Wines', as it is known locally, it biggest business is in non-alcoholic drinks and products, especially Prime, an energy drink endorsed by YouTube stars Logan Paul and KSI and selling out everywhere.

As one of the few retailers with stocks of Prime, Wakefield Wines has turned to promoting the Dubai brand as the next big thing.

Customers, mostly in their teens or early 20s, frequently travel long distances to shop there.

Camel milk “is one of the bestsellers in my shop”, Az Nazir tells his audience in one of his latest videos, adding that it’s ”really good for you boys and girls. Come and get your camel milk.”

Growing market

Camelicious, already familiar in the UAE for products ranging from flavoured milk to ice cream and camel lattes, is meeting a growing market for camel milk in the UK and Europe.

It was boosted by British supermarket giant Asda adding Camelicious long life camel milk to its shelves in 2017, but is also found in many independent shops, particularly those specialising in Middle Eastern food, and can be ordered on Amazon.

Long-life Camelicious is produced by reconstituting dried powder but British consumers can now obtain milk directly from the camel.

Daisy’s Dromedairy launched this year, supplied by a camel herd in the heart of the English countryside.

It is a spin-off from an existing business, Joseph’s Amazing Camels, which supplies the animals to film and TV sets and for promotional events.

“What we are offering is an entirely natural product from camel to bottle,” says Rebecca Fossett, whose daughter Daisy Smith manages the milk product line from the farm in rural Warwickshire.

The Fossett family moved into milk production after buying three pregnant dromedary camels from a Dutch dairy, which until now had the only herd in Europe.

Daisy’s Dromedairy, now with five milking camels, is selling fresh or frozen raw milk, meaning that it contains more vitamins and minerals because it is unpasteurised.

“Most of our sales are online or by word of mouth,” says Fossett.

Camel milk is popular among Muslims who wish to follow a Hadith from the Prophet Mohammed to drink it to improve their health.

Its antioxidant properties have also led to demand from the parents of autistic children, who believe it can improve their symptoms.

People with diary allergies also find they can often use camel milk as a substitute for cows’ milk.

With each camel producing only about a litre a day, the market is small scale at the moment, although a range of beauty products, including soap, is being considered.

In what may be a sign of things to come, Daisy’s Dromedairy was invited to pitch its product this month on UK television’s Aldi’s Next Big Thing.

Shown on Channel 4, the series is part of the Aldi supermarket chain’s drive to find more local producers to supply its 800 supermarkets in the UK.