For communities having a problem with having chocolates made from cow milk, one of India’s biggest dairy companies is hoping to win people’s hearts with its latest product- camel milk chocolate.
The firm Amul hopes that this unusual confection allows strict Hindus and Sikhs who avoid cow milk, and those allergic to dairy products, to enjoy chocolate, reported Telegraph.
Further, it also aims to help the shrinking camel-herding industry from desert states such as Gujarat and Rajasthan. In 2017 during Diwali, as a novelty, Amul launched its first product made from the milk of camel, stepping away from the usual cow or buffalo milk chocolate, which were sold near camel fairs and online, mentioned the report.
Since, a few years ago, camel milk has been promoted as an alternative dairy product for people having allergies from cow or buffalo milk. Therefore it ended up on the shelves of a few big city stores too.
According to the report, last time, the milk had come from camels in Bhuj region of Gujarat, where the herders from the Rabari tribe worked with the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF).
Amul’s new initiative is meant to help this herd create an alternative income as they have been herding camels for centuries. Even though the tribe subsists on camel milk, but considers selling it a taboo.
While talking to Hindustan Times, the GCMMF chef, RS Sodhi said, the project was a success and has lots of potentials. “Camel milk is saltier. We turned the milk into milk powder and adapted the chocolate recipe to fit commercial tastes. The flavor is more minerally, but people have loved the idea.”
With NGO Sahjeevan organizing milk deposits, more than 10,000 camels in Gujarat are already part of the scheme. Further, Rameah Bhatti of Sahjeevan’s center for pastoralism said, “There is a sense of optimism and hope. The herders’ children, who would have taken up jobs as truck drivers, goat herders or farmers, are taking up camel rearing for now.”
Manufacturers hope that salty-sweet camel milk chocolates may be an instant hit in India as the country has one of the fastest growing chocolate markets on earth – it consumed 228,000 tonnes in 2016, as mentioned in the report.