MADABA (Jordan): Friends and family initially mocked one Jordanian family’s new venture making soap from donkey milk. But now, a year on, the company is cleaning up.
Atan Donkey Milk Soaps produces 100% natural soaps from its farm in Madaba, 35km southwest of Amman, where it keeps 12 donkeys and a small manufacturing workshop in the Jordanian capital.
Although other regions around the Mediterranean produce soap from donkey milk, this is the first for Jordan.
“At the beginning, many laughed at the idea,” said Emad Attiyat, 32, co-founder of the project that takes its name from the Arabic for a jenny or female donkey.
Sceptics scoffed they “would use nothing on their skin related to donkeys”, he added.
“But after trying the soap, all that changed, and now we produce more than 4,500 bars of soap per month to meet demand,” he said, standing next to the barn where the animals are housed.
Reducing ageing
Donkey’s milk is said to be rich in minerals and proteins that can help moisturise the skin. It also has high levels of antioxidants, which protect the skin from sunlight and the effects of ageing, according to beauticians.
One litre of milk produces around 30 bars of soap, but milking each female is a painstaking task done with the help of a hand-held electric pump.
Each donkey has to be milked three times a day in order to get about 1l of fluid, leaving about another 1l for its foal. The milk is frozen and transferred to the company’s workshop in Amman to be turned into soap.
Research has shown donkey milk can “help regenerate skin cells, reduce signs of ageing, and help cure some skin diseases such as eczema”, said Emad’s mother, Salma al-Zubi.
She was the one who came up with the idea of trying the venture. An environmental activist and retired teacher, she said donkey’s milk soap contributes to balancing the skin’s moisture levels, removing wrinkles as well as the effects of spots and acne.
Now in her 60s, she helps mix ingredients in their company’s workshop in a large steel bowl, wearing a white face mask and blue gloves. Olive oil, almond oil, coconut oil as well as shea butter are added to the donkey milk to produce the soap, which is then sold via their Facebook page.
A small 85g bar of soap costs eight Jordanian dinars (RM45), while a large 125g bar of soap is sold for 10 dinars (RM58).
By comparison, 1l of donkey’s milk in Europe can reach as high as €60 (RM295) and is used in making some expensive cheeses.
Providing jobs
Emad now hopes to expand production to include face and hand creams and lotions.
As she poured the mixture into special silicon moulds to shape the bars over the next month, Salma said the venture had provided jobs to several family members “including my son Emad, who has suffered from unemployment for many years”.
Lawyer Esraa al-Turk, a loyal customer, said she had been attracted to the donkey milk soap because it is a natural product.
“I take care of my skin,” she said, adding that although she did not wear much makeup, she had now “become more daring to leave home without any cosmetics on my face”.