Our Story

What Does Oolapa Mean?

Oolapa is the Maasai word for moon—the rhythm by which our ancestors measured time and transformation.

For thousands of years, Maasai and Meru pastoral communities preserved raw milk through traditional fermentation, creating a living food that sustained nomadic life across East Africa. This ancient practice relied on no refrigeration, no commercial cultures, and no modern equipment—just raw milk, charcoal filtration, time, and the cycles of the moon.

We honor this ancestral wisdom by fermenting raw grass-grazed milk for 2+ months—one moon cycle at a time. Our fermentation happens at room temperature using only the naturally occurring bacteria in raw milk and traditional charcoal filtration methods. No heating. No commercial cultures. No shortcuts.

What emerges is a living product—beneficial bacteria continue developing after bottling, creating flavors and probiotic content that commercial products made in 10-48 hours can never replicate.

This is more than fermented milk. It's a connection to ancestral food wisdom, preserved in every jar.