Chr. Hansen partners with Kenyan company Oleleshwa Enterprises to develop basic knowledge about camel cheese production

helping rural communities develop a sustainable camel dairy industry

Hørsholm, Denmark, 17-2-2014 — /EuropaWire/ — Thousands of camel owners in arid regions of Northern Africa, where two thirds of the world’s camels live, could benefit from products that can help them increase the use-value of their humpback livestock.

Chr. Hansen, together with the Kenyan company Oleleshwa Enterprises Ltd, initiated a CSR project aiming to improve the living conditions of small-scale camel owners. The project focused on the development of basic knowledge about camel cheese production to enable camel owners to produce their own camel cheese.

Production of camel cheese will allow them to preserve camel milk from the wet season, when volumes are higher than consumption, to the dry seasons, where demand is much higher than milk available. Moreover, production of cheese will enable camel owners to develop a sustainable camel cheese market and distribution chain.

The one-year project has now successfully concluded and several simple cheese recipes have been developed.
Pastoralist tradition combined with modern technology

An educational and enjoyable exercise
Anne Bruntse, Director of Oleleshwa Enterprises Ltd, has driven the project and developed a manual with simple recipes for a variety of cheeses including a soft ripened cheese called “Camelbert”- all of them based on camel milk.

“Developing this manual has been a very educational and enjoyable exercise. We have learnt many new facts about the processing opportunities of camel milk. For instance the fact that just like the camel prefers hot weather, so does its milk work best with heat tolerant (thermophilic) cultures and hot processing temperatures,” says Anne Bruntse.

She adds: “We also found ways to incorporate local traditional technology in the cheese making process in pastoral areas where cooling facilities are not available – something that put a big proud smile on the faces of the pastoralists so far trained. Thus the recipes are a tribute and further development to all the efforts of the good people who have worked generations to find out what works in camel milk processing – both pastoralists and Chr. Hansen.

However there is still a lot more to learn and it is our hope that others will also feel free to share recipes and experiences in this field. A big thank you to all our partners and collaborators so far,” says Anne Bruntse.

Distributing free Camel Cheese Manual
The recipes have been designed to be applicable in rural areas by local camel owners. The cheese production steps have been collected in a short, simple and illustrated Camel Cheese Manual, which is available for download free of charge from Chr. Hansen’s website. For those who plan to conduct training in cheese making in pastoral areas a Kenyan camel milk hygiene guide is also available. The hygiene manual has been developed by the Kenya ASAL Team*.

The printed manuals will be distributed in the coming months and training of rural communities in Northern Kenya will take place thanks to the contribution of Vétérinaires Sans Frontiéres Suisse, an NGO engaged in the fight against hunger and poverty.

THE SECRET INGREDIENT
Camel milk is low in fat, high in calcium and Vitamin C, a rich source of protein and a potent source for delicious and durable cheese and cheese production is a means to preserve the nutritious milk. The “secret ingredient” that will enable the camel owners to effectively turn their camel milk into delicious and shelf stable cheese is a pioneering and patented enzyme solution from Chr. Hansen called FAR-M^®.

FAR-M^® is available at Chr. Hansen local representative in small sticks, ideal packaging for small producers located in rural areas.

* Kenya Agriculture Research Institute (KARI), Kenya Ministry of Livestock – ALLPRO project, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Kenya Camel Association (KCA), Biovision Foundation for Ecological Development.

For further information please contact:

Ulrik Raabjerg Søndergaard
Communications Consultant
Denmark, Hoersholm, headquarters
Phone:+45 45 74 71 09
Mobile: +45 30 38 28 74

ABOUT US
Chr. Hansen is a global bioscience company that develops natural ingredient solutions for the food, nutritional, pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. The products include cultures, enzymes, probiotics and natural colors, and all solutions are based on strong research and development competencies coupled with significant technology investments. Revenue in the 2012/13 financial year was EUR 738 million. The company holds a leading market position in all its divisions: Cultures & Enzymes, Health & Nutrition and Natural Colors. It has more than 2,500 dedicated employees in over 30 countries and main production facilities in Denmark, France, USA and Germany. Chr. Hansen was founded in 1874 and is listed on NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen.

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“We are really satisfied with the outcome of this project. We expect that these recipes will help the rural camel communities in developing a sustainable camel dairy industry. The camel cheese project builds on insights from projects in Brazil, Ecuador and other countries, where Chr. Hansen’s natural ingredient solutions are helping small-scale milk producers make cheese that they can trade, thereby increasing their income and improving their living conditions,” says Rolando Saltini, Global Market Manager Cheese, Chr. Hansen.