Leezib Cultured Camel Milk

Manufacturer• Mauritania• Member since 1989

Tiviski is a dairy in Nouakchott, Mauritania, that started operating in April 1989 under the name Laitière de Mauritanie to bridge the gap between fresh milk in the countryside and consumers in the capital. The company states it was the first dairy in West Africa to collect raw milk from nomadic herders, and that its first product was pasteurised camel milk in a carton. It buys camel, cow and goat milk from hundreds of pastoralists; the milk is delivered to two collecting centres near pasture in Rosso and Boghé, within a radius of about 90 km, and carried chilled to Nouakchott in insulated tanker trucks. The company says it follows HACCP quality-control procedures, uses no preservatives, and has produced UHT cow milk under a Candia franchise since 2002. Its range includes Tiviski camel milk, Leezib cultured camel milk, El Badia cow milk, butter, yogurts, ice cream and Caravane, which the company calls the only cheese in the world made from camel milk. The GAFSP fund, which invested in the company's expansion in 2016, cites a milk collection capacity of 42,000 litres per day and a goal of creating export potential for camel milk powder.