Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/550310
38 tobaccoasia Photo: Thomas Schmid Photo: Thomas Schmid trol chemicals, which may later contaminate the finished prod- uct." After harvesting by hand, the tobacco leaves are carefully air-dried before being de-stemmed, crushed into the tiny flakes characteristic of dokha, blended and packaged. Founded in 1987, Bin Khumery first realized the marketing potential for dokha abroad when it recently started receiving smaller orders and curious consumer inquiries from overseas. "We already maintained a rather extensive distribution and rep- resentation network in the UAE and practically all Gulf coun- tries, so we figured that it finally might be time to be bold and tap new markets. As far as we know, we are the very first local company trying to market dokha outside its traditional realm." After re-branding its dokha products as Turbo and re-designing the packaging to be more appealing to Western consumers, the company is now focusing particularly on the US, the UK, as well as Canada and Russia as potential future markets, claim- ing that negotiations are currently underway with several parties who have expressed interest in becoming distribution partners. However, Jamalou readily admitted that penetrating North America and Europe might not exactly be a walk in the park. "To Western consumers dokha must seem like a very unusual way of enjoying tobacco, and the vast majority probably has never even heard of it." But he also puts his trust into the con- siderable populations of ethnic Arabs and Middle Easterners in the US, Canada, and the UK, who might be able to spread the word about Turbo. After all, pretty much every die-hard smoker regardless of their ethnic or cultural background is nowadays desperately searching for ways to tackle the ever-increasing hurdles set up by anti-smoking laws and lobbyists around the globe. Turbo starter set Turbo starter set Behzod Jamalou, business development manager, Bin Khumery Smoking Goods Co. LLC Hand-crafting of 'medwakh' pipes Product shot Various Turbo dhoka blends