What’s your favourite product? 

Right now, we have two products in the market; our natural Greek Style Yoghurt and honey flavoured Greek Style Yoghurt. Both are made from fresh milk. The first time I tasted our yoghurt, I had this out-of-this-world feeling. I took a second spoonful and was just left with this creamy feel and aftertaste that was so good. I love the 430g pots and can finish it in one go. I eat a lot of yoghurt!

What’s your favourite breakfast recipe? 

I usually have yoghurt with bananas, honey, granola with a sprinkle of almond nuts. Some people prefer to blend these ingredients, but I like to chop everything into small pieces. I also sometimes blend the yoghurt with the fruit Soursop, also known as Graviola. It’s an antioxidant, so it’s extremely healthy. I blend it with the yoghurt, then add a squeeze of honey as a natural sweetener. 

You were involved with the factory build. How did it feel to see that coming together?

In July 2020, we started the excavation and laid the foundations for our factory in Abuja. The architect Amin Nayyar at ANA Design Studio designed the building, and it looks incredible. We actually recorded the project from start to finish with a timelapse camera, but the memory card was stolen, so we lost some of the footage. Most of the factory equipment was made to our specific requirements and imported from Italy, and the building materials were shipped from India. There are other dairy factories in Nigeria but most of them are designed to process powdered milk. Opening a factory in Nigeria that can process 100% fresh milk will be an incredible achievement. 

What’s it like out in the field at Câm?

Our milk comes from rural pastoralist communities – at the moment, we’re collecting milk from one community in Paiko, Gwagwalada Abuja. These are honest, hardworking people who have a rich culture. They know more about the cows than we do, so we lean into their knowledge and culture and see how we can help them make more money. 

We see the women come out every day to sell their milk with happy faces. They’re invested in our business and keep asking how the product is doing. At one point, we took our Greek Style Yoghurt to them, and they really enjoyed the product. They know the taste of real milk because they drink it every day, but it was a new experience to see their milk turned into a packaged product that looks this good. 

Tell us about your first customers. 

Câm is a premium product, so our early customers are people who understand the value of fresh dairy. Many of them previously paid a high price for imported fresh dairy, so when they see a local alternative it’s easy for them to adopt and save money compared to what they pay for the imported product. We currently deliver to customers in Abuja and Lagos. People can choose a regular subscription and we’ll deliver to their door at a specific time, or they can place a one-off order on our website. We’re also planning on supplying supermarkets soon.

What sort of feedback are you getting? 

If someone gives feedback, we take a screenshot and share it in the Slack channel, so everyone at Câm sees it. We used to get people doubting that it’s possible and saying things like, “Are there enough cows in Nigeria?” or, “It’s impossible to make real dairy here.” We don’t pay attention to this but it does play on our minds. When we get positive feedback like this from customers who have actually tried the product, it gives us confidence that there’s a market here for us.