Ten Emirati Women Produce Premium Goat’s Milk Cheese for Abu Dhabi’s Top Hotels

ABU DHABI:Just ten Emirati women are responsible for producing premium cheese and other traditional dairy products at a major cheese factory on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, where they oversee every stage of production, from processing fresh goat’s milk to packaging the finished products.

According to _Khaleej Times_, the factory, located in the Al Falah area, was established in July 2023 and supplies cheese and other traditional Emirati foods to major hotels across the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The women specialise in producing a range of dairy products, including cheese, labneh and cream, using fresh goat’s milk sourced primarily from the company’s own farm, with additional supplies occasionally obtained from nearby farms.

Ala Mustafa, the factory’s trainer, said the production process involves heating the milk to 70 degrees Celsius before cooling it to 40 degrees Celsius. The milk is then processed to produce cheese and labneh.

The ten employees handle the entire operation themselves, including cleaning, heating and cooling the milk, preparing dairy products and packaging them for distribution. They combine traditional hands-on expertise with modern machinery and technology to maintain product quality.

The factory operates five days a week and produces more than 20 kilograms of cheese and labneh in a single production run or day, primarily to fulfil large orders from hotels.

The women working at the facility are aged between 23 and 40. They are highly educated and bring extensive experience in preparing traditional Emirati and Arab cuisine.

Their work highlights the growing role of Emirati women in the country’s food production sector, where traditional culinary skills are being combined with modern manufacturing techniques to supply premium products to the hospitality industry.