Episode 7 visits the Laos Buffalo Dairy in northern Laos and explores the concepts of Economic Agroecology, such as social enterprises.

The Laos Buffalo Dairy was started by two couples, one Australian, and one American, after they fell in love with Laos on vacation and decided to take a hiatus from their jobs to spend a year or two in Laos working with locals to establish a little company to produce yogurt and cheeses that could be sold to hotels in the area. A bit of a passion project that would add value to the local economy.

We are happy to let you know that Laos Buffalo Dairy was featured in TimeOut Singapore.

Get Laos in a moment

Read the full Emirate in-flight mag piece about Laos Buffalo Dairy.

Three apprehensive expats surrounded a buffalo in a village outside Luang Prabang, their eyes fixed on the docile beast. It was 2014, and they had a hunch that a huge resource was going entirely untapped in Laos. Thirty-five villagers – as well as the buffalo’s nervous owner, Mr Eh – had congregated to witness something they’d never seen before. The crazy foreigners were going to milk a buffalo. The flat-packed Chinese milking machine had been painstakingly assembled and hooked up to the buffalo. As the crowd held their breath, they switched it on. Nothing happened. A sleepless night followed. But on the second day, although most of the villagers had dispersed, the falang struck milk.

A low-cost airline has launched $189 flights to an Asian country hardly any Australians have visited. 

Scoot, a discount airline owned by Singapore Airlines, launched dirt-cheap one-way flights to the Laotian cities of Luang Prabang and Vientiane on Wednesday. 

Visits to both cities will be a culturally enriching experience for travellers thanks to the abundance of elaborate Buddhist temples, museums and caves filled with historic artifacts. 

Scoot's Laos sale departs from Perth for $189, $199 from the Gold Coast and $209 from Sydney and Melbourne - all one way. 

Arjuna and Jenny are both final year Veterinary students from the University of Sydney, who travelled to Laos in November 2018 to participate in professional practice rotations with the MLR team. For 3 weeks they assisted staff of the Department of Livestock and Fisheries team, the local SK veterinary clinic, and the Laos Buffalo Dairy.

Ahlan! jetted to Luang Prabang, where we found one of the most magical destinations on the entire planet (fact).

Milk a buffalo (yes, really)

You might have milked a cow in your lifetime, but have you ever milked a buffalo? That’s exactly what we did when we visited Laos’ only buffalo farm, Laos Buffalo Dairy.

From what I experienced while on this assignment, exhibit A of a new, benevolent business is the Laos Buffalo Dairy, which among other things, is tackling childhood nutrition with a solution that’s been hiding in plain sight for too long, as prior to this breakthrough, buffalo either plowed fields or roamed aimlessly.

Enter: Buffalo mozzarella, ricotta, other cheese varieties, cheesecake, ice cream, and yogurt for local and overseas palates.

It was an innocent question about buffalo curd that started four expats on a life-changing journey to rural Luang Prabang.

Australians Susie Martin and Steven McWhirter, and Americans Rachel and Matt O’Shea were living as expats in Singapore, half high-flying executives, half trailing spouses.

Yearning for a quieter life, Rachel and Susie came to Laos on a reconnaissance mission, taking in a cooking class in Luang Prabang with an eye to opening a hotel.