NARRATIVES OF KUMIS CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION IN CONTEMPORARY KAZAKHSTAN ВЗГЛЯДЫ НА ПОТРЕБЛЕНИЕ И ИЗГОТОВЛЕНИЕ КУМЫСА В СОВРЕМЕННОМ КАЗАХСТАНЕ ҚАЗІРГІ ҚАЗАҚСТАНДА ҚЫМЫЗ ТҰТЫНУҒА ЖӘНЕ ДАЙЫНДАУҒА КӨЗҚАРАС by Sandra Real A Thesis Submitted to the School of Humanities and Social Sciences of Nazarbayev University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Eurasian Studies at NAZARBAYEV UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCE NUR-SULTAN, KAZAKHSTAN 2019 ii iii © 2019 Sandra Real All Rights Reserved iv Abstract Kumis, a beverage made with fermented mare´s milk, is a part of national cuisine, symbol of health, and unique cultural identity in modern Kazakhstan. It is also a part of the traditional cycle of horse husbandry and the modern small business production that thrives in the countryside around big cities. In my study, based on the in-person and online survey of kumis consumers and on in-depth interviews with kumis producers in the two major cities of Kazakhstan, Astana and Almaty, I explore the dynamics of kumis supply chain and customer behavior and discuss how modern- day city dwellers make choices about kumis consumption while imagining the landscape, seasonality, and “natural-ness” of kumis production. Keywords: kumis, urban Kazakhstan, mare´s milk, customer behavior v Acknowledgement I want to thank my advisers Dr. Alima Bissenova and Ms. Christina Pugh for their feedback, guidance, and encouragement to develop this project and for their advices during the process of document writing. I am also thankful to my peers from the Eurasian Studies program in making me feel welcome in Kazakhstan, showing me the beauty of Kazakh culture, and assisting me with interpreting when my Russian and Kazakh speaking skills were very limited. I dedicate this thesis to my family, who were my emotional support in my Master´s degree adventure, to the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Mexico for introducing me to the wonders of Kazakh language, traditions, and legacy, and to Kazakhstan for giving me the awesome opportunity to receive high-quality education in the heart of Eurasia. vi Table of contents Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 Methodology .............................................................................................................. 5 Schedule ................................................................................................................. 6 Chapter 1. The places of kumis in urban Kazakhstan .............................................. 14 Perceptions of kumis production, selling and consumption ................................. 23 The real spaces of kumis production, selling and consumption ........................... 27 The production centers of kumis in Nur-Sultan and Almaty ........................... 27 Interpretation of kumis production and business ................................................. 35 Interpretation of kumis production and experiences ............................................ 37 Description of the bazaars object of study in Nur-Sultan .................................... 40 Artyom .............................................................................................................. 40 Eurasia .............................................................................................................. 45 Shanhai ............................................................................................................. 48 Descriptions of the bazaar object of study in Almaty .......................................... 51 The Green Bazaar ............................................................................................. 52 Supermarket ......................................................................................................... 59 Chapter 2: Seasonality of kumis, safety and transportation ..................................... 67 Specific details of the milking process and its connection to seasonality............ 69 Industrial production ........................................................................................ 71 Homemade production ..................................................................................... 72 Safety of mare´s milk and kumis in the industry ................................................. 74 Quality control of kumis in the Republic of Kazakhstan and transportation in the industry ................................................................................................................. 75 Transportation of kumis by local producers......................................................... 75 Chapter 3: Who are the consumers of kumis? ......................................................... 78 Data and analysis of the consumers´ responses in-person and online ................. 85 Basic Demographic Description of Three Surveys .............................................. 86 General Trends in the Survey ............................................................................... 89 Age ..................................................................................................................... 104 Geography .......................................................................................................... 109 Language ............................................................................................................ 110 Seasonality and nature ........................................................................................ 117 The imagined ideas of consumers ...................................................................... 123 Branding of kumis .............................................................................................. 125 vii Sensorial properties of kumis ............................................................................. 126 The experiment of kumis sensorial properties ................................................ 127 Recommendations to Producers, Sellers and Marketers ........................................ 133 Recommendations to Future Researchers .............................................................. 138 Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 140 Appendix ................................................................................................................ 145 Interviews from the sellers in Eurasia ................................................................ 145 Reflections after visiting Eurasia ....................................................................... 152 Interviews from the sellers in Artyom ............................................................... 153 Interviews from the sellers in Big Shanhai bazaar ............................................. 154 Seller 2 interview ............................................................................................ 156 Fieldwork to Almaty in the summer (notes) ...................................................... 157 Interview 1 at the green bazaar ....................................................................... 157 Raw data of kumis consumption in the supermarket ......................................... 159 Raw data of kumis consumption in the bazaars ................................................. 160 Interview with Yerubay (Koksay, Almaty) ........................................................ 161 Interview with Bakhyt (Qazaq house) ................................................................ 164 Additional notes from Bakhyt's interview ...................................................... 170 Sensorial analysis of kumis (degustation activity) ......................................... 172 Bibliography .......................................................................................................... 175 viii List of Tables Table 1. Races of horses in Kazakhstan used for milk production. ......................... 18 Table 2. Prices of kumis in Nur-Sultan and Almaty. ............................................... 66 Table 3. Survey for buyers of kumis in Social Media in Russian and English language. .................................................................................................................. 79 Table 4. Participants of the study per sex. ............................................................... 86 Table 5. Survey samples by age. .............................................................................. 87 Table 6. Average income of the population object of study in social media. .......... 88 Table 7. Frequency of kumis consumption per place object of study. .................... 91 Table 8. Age when respondents first drank kumis from social media survey. ........ 92 Table 9. Location where consumers most often drink kumis. ................................. 93 Table 10. Where social media consumers most often buy kumis. ........................... 93 Table 11. Most common quantities bought by the clients. ...................................... 94 Table 12. Social media consumers’ #1 reason for drinking kumis. ......................... 95 Table 13. Social media consume’ favorite sensorial qualities of kumis. ................. 96 Table 14. Kumis classification per days of fermentation. ....................................... 97 Table 15. Favorite type of kumis among social media respondents. ....................... 97 Table 16. Most common place people