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Ammon News - ABU DHABI (The National) - Costa says it has become the first global coffee chain in the Emirates to add camel milk to its menu.

Customers visiting more than 30 Costa Coffee outlets in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah now have the option of choosing camel milk or ordering the Strawberry Camel Milk Cooler.

About 15 to 20 customers have requested camel milk on a daily basis since it was launched in stores this month.

If it proves popular, Costa will consider rolling it out to more of the chain's 99 stores across the UAE, said Eric Hughes, the brand's general manager in the UAE.

"We pride ourselves in being innovative in our range of products that we offer our customers and we stay close to market trends to understand what our customers want and what is popular," added Mr Hughes. "We saw camel milk as being quite popular and trending with health conscious and local customers."

Camel milk contains 50 per cent less fat than cow's milk and is rich in calcium.
It appears to have a host of medicinal benefits.

Studies that regular consumption of camel milk can help diabetes sufferers, according to separate research from India's Bikaner Diabetes Care Research Center and Egypt's Menofia University Hospital.

Research is also under way about whether camel milk could benefit patients with hepatitis, autoimmune diseases, crone's disease, autism and rheumatism.

And companies are now marketing camel-related products that they claim have beneficial effects in treating psoriasis, a skin condition, said the Emirates Industry for Camel Milk, which supplies Costa.

Camelicious delivered its first batch of camel milk to Europe last month after receiving approval from the European Union, five years after making the initial application.

It recently also received a permit to ship camel milk to Malaysia and now has its sights set on the United States, where several camel milk programmes are already in place.