Photos: How 10 UAE women are making gourmet cheese from goat milk in Abu Dhabi

At a cheese factory on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, a small group of women of determination is turning fresh goat milk into gourmet delights — from creamy labneh balls to artisanal cheese cubes — now served in some of the UAE's top hotels.

At a factory run under the Zayed Authority for People of Determination, ten Emirati women oversee every step from pasteurisation to packaging. The facility opened in July 2023 in the Al Falah area after the project’s early beginnings at the authority’s headquarters in Shakhbout City.

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“It started with four ladies there, then the number grew gradually, and now we have ten,” explained Alaa Mushtaha, the factory’s assistant qualification trainer. Every day, the team receives fresh goat milk from the authority’s own farm and, when needed, from other nearby farms. “We filter the raw milk — we heat it to 70°C, then cool it at 40°C, we pasteurise it and filter it, and most importantly, we train the girls on this process,” she explained.

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From there, enzymes are added to transform the milk into cheese and labneh. The women then carefully manage each stage of production — incubation, cooling, and preservation.

Mushtaha explained the meticulous process: "After adding the yoghurt enzyme to the labneh, the mixture is placed in an incubator before being cooled. The women then pack it in bags and add salt to preserve it, removing excess liquid and creating a creamy texture. Once ready, the labneh is shaped into balls, with a variety of flavours added — from sesame, black seeds, and paprika to mint, zaatar, sumac, and pepper — before being packed and labelled."

The handcrafted cheeses are produced daily, except on weekends, and take about a week to prepare. The factory primarily focuses on large pre-orders and hotel supply, producing more than 20kgs of cheese and labneh at a time.

Mushtaha said the women have become confident and precise in their work, from sanitising and packaging to handling delivery notes. “Training took around a year,” she said. “Some girls started from zero, and they were training daily, so some discovered the things they are best at, and we allocated jobs for them accordingly.”

For the employees, the work has brought a sense of pride, purpose, and growing skills. Athari Alaadin, 24, who has been working at the cheese factory for two and a half years, said: “I like to cut the cheese, and heat the milk… gives me joy when I do it. I also apply what I learn here at home — I make cheese for my mother. When I started, the toughest part was cutting the cheese, and now it is my favourite part. I aspire to open my own small cheese shop.”

Wadha Al Mansouri, 14, said her favourite part of the job is preparing the flavoured labneh balls. “I’ve been working here for a long time. I make the flavoured labneh balls — zaatar, paprika, etc. I didn’t find anything hard when I started because we’re always following Miss Alaa’s instructions,” she said. “My goal is to become a supervisor like her."

For Fathiya Al Naqbi, who has been with the authority for 15 years and worked at the previous cheese facility before this one opened, the experience has been deeply fulfilling. “I love everything about my job — pasteurisation, adding the flavours, whatever the supervisor asks me to do,” she said.

"My first mentor, Miss Rahma, taught me everything. In the beginning, it was all challenging, but then we learned everything.” When she isn’t working, Fathiya said she enjoys playing basketball at Al Mafraq Club, where she has even won medals. “I don’t know what else I would want to do in the future,” she added.

• Abu Dhabi

Haneen Dajani

haneen@khaleejtimes.com

Haneen Dajani is special correspondent in Abu Dhabi with over 15 years of reporting experience. She’s also a passionate athlete, full Ironman finisher, and mountaineer who loves to embark on unusual challenges.