Dromazère, the small dromedary farm of Margeride which is seen as an oasis in the middle of the desert

Les associés avec leurs dromadaires. MIDI LIBRE – M. P.

Les frères Favier et Jean-Marc Bertrand se sont associés il y a plusieurs années pour créer un élevage de dromadaires en pleine Margeride.

It’s a little corner of paradise, near Sainte-Colombe-de-Montauroux, in the heart of Margeride. At the end of the small road that leads to the farm of the Favier brothers and their associates Jean-Marc Bertrand and Denis Chazal, it’s not cows that you can see, it’s not a mirage, but dromedaries, about forty of them. The managers started a special adventure a few years ago, raising dromedaries.

Camel milk, a subtle taste

“We are all originally from Lozère”, exclaim Alain, Christian and Jean-Michel, the brothers. “The story began on the Atlas Mountains, several years ago. We had treated a lady who had been stepped on by a dromedary. We realized that the milk of the dromedaries was the white gold of the Berbers.” The story could have ended there, but everyone had kept in mind the camelids, parading in single file in the desert and this famous and precious milk.

Camels well acclimatized to Lozère. MIDI LIBRE – M. P.

200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000

In 2019, the brothers and Jean-Marc Bertrand, after having sold a joint business, wondered what to do: “A building was for sale here, and we bought it and we bought dromedaries.” A complicated affair, but the group will contact the dromedary specialist, Bernard Faye, who will give them some advice: “We bought animals that were already here in Europe, circus animals for sale and a herd of 20 heads.”

The idea, to produce camel milk for cosmetic purposes. A laboratory in Mages, in the Gard, has offered to start production: soap, solid shampoo, body milk, lip balm… The milk, with a subtle taste and snow white,“less fatty than cow's milk”, according to the partners. “To our knowledge, no one has an intolerance to this liquid.”

All products from the production have been dermatologically tested and referenced in global banks that list the composition of all products.

Projects around the farm and further afield

The dromedary, accustomed to the polar cold of the Sahara at night, does not fear the Lozère cold but it is very sensitive to humidity, due to its soft pads instead of hooves. “Since we have had the herd, we have had 25 births”, the partners congratulate themselves.

In the shed, the animals shake themselves off quietly, before being released for a few hours in the adjacent six-hectare meadow, in order to graze on natural grass. “As soon as the sun goes down they will come back on their own“, the friends laugh. “Currently, we have about 150 liters per year of camel milk, which we transport to the laboratory.” A simple cow milking machine works.

Guillaume Delmas, an employee of the farm, watches over the creatures like milk on the stove: “At the moment it's quiet, there are no births. After that, there's milking to do, once or twice a day.” The milk will then be frozen before being processed.

Soon, the partners will bring in Berbers to train the animals: “We have the idea of ​​building a caravan of ten dromedaries and providing rides in the summer by the sea. We will try to come to an agreement with a local herd.”

And then lots of other ideas emerge, like creating a dromedary museum and a shop on the farm in Sainte-Colombe-de-Montauroux, with visits for locals and tourists and real Sahara sand as a reception area. The work is already underway. Enough to make many generations of Lozère dromedaries bleat!

To discover the range of cosmetics available: cosmetique dromazère on Facebook. I subscribe to read the rest