ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Yogurt from the villages and mountains of Kurdistan has long been favored among Kurds and Iraqis alike. But despite the increased competition from manufactured and imported dairy goods, local producers and sellers say they are still faring well in the trade and feel no threats to their business.
“Customers are still loyal to local products because the quality is much better,” Khidir Ali, a trader of locally-produced yogurt, reported from his shop on Erbil’s Salahaddin Street.
“I buy from farmers in the villages and sell their products to supermarkets and individual markets, though I also sell directly to customers from my shop here,” said Ali, 45.
There are two seasons in Kurdistan for local yogurt: The season for goat yogurt, the undisputed favorite among locals due to its superior taste, lasts from March to August; the season for cow and buffalo yogurt roughly correlates with the fall and winter months.
Ali said people always choose goat products when they are available or have the choice, but that they have no preference between cow and buffalo yogurt.
“During the season for goat yogurt, I sell 500 1.5 to 2 kilogram bowls every day. I can’t keep up with the demand and sell out,” he explained.
Adding to its popularity, local yogurt is 100 percent natural and has a long life span.
Due to the large quantities of buffalo milk produced locally, farmers are unable to process all of it to natural yogurt before it spoils. To combat spoilage, some buffalo yogurt is put through a local manufacturing process before hitting the market in local stores.
It is during the winter months that sales for imported yogurt increase, with the main competition being imports from Iran, Turkey and Greece.
Sardar Aburozin, owner of a small market on Bakhtiari Street that sells both local and imported dairy products, explained that the variety of imported yogurt products gives them a competitive advantage in the winter months.
“Low-fat and flavored varieties provide customers with more options. But even so, in the winter months I sell equal amounts of imported yogurt and local cow and buffalo yogurt,” he said. “Come spring, however, the demand for goat products takes over.”
Aburozin said that most of the demand for the imported yogurt comes from foreigners, who are mostly unaware of the high quality of local produce.
Abu Ibrahim, a Lebanese expatriate who frequents Aburozin’s market, agreed that the quality of the goat yogurt produced in the spring is excellent. “But the problem with the local yogurt is that its fat content is so high,” Ibrahim explained. “Because of this, I prefer to buy imported yogurt from Iran with only 10 percent fat,” he said.
Assad Omar Khaled, another local dairy distributor located on Salahaddin Street, has been in the business for 40 years and offered further insight into the demand for local products.
“Locals prefer local products and will only buy imported products when local products aren’t available,” Khaled explained.
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