Milk Magic

Suany Varela has understood milk and dairy processing since she was a little girl. When she was younger, she’d accompany her father, Miguel, and her brothers and sisters through the dairy processing plant Miguel built from the ground up in Olancho, Honduras in the early 90s.

“My parents have taught my brothers and sisters to work very hard. It is the model we have had since childhood.” She said, “It's already in our DNA.”

The family photo album contains images of the Varela children working alongside their father and living on the premises of the company, Lacteos Boquerón, as they turned the business from a small artisanal milk and dairy producer into a facility with a staff of more than 25 people processing more than 30,000 liters of milk sold to consumers and coffee shops across Honduras.

Milk processing companies like Boquerón play a vital role in the food system by turning raw materials into finished dairy products. Not only are processors a market for local farmers to sell their milk, they also champion and improve food safety and make nutritious food available to consumers.

The role of processors adding value to items like raw milk or perishables is crucial to ensuring economic and food security — they support farmers to turn their products and produce into a more sustainable income, particularly in remote, rural areas like Olancho. They also provide an income to young people eager to learn new skills.

When she first started at the factory nine years ago, Suany had to prove herself. After graduating from Zamorano Pan-American Agricultural School in Honduras with a degree in industrial engineering, it took a while to learn the business.

She wanted to test her skills, learn how to produce the highest-quality dairy products and increase the factory’s output. As a manager, she has established quality control parameters and applied new training methodologies.

She knew that to be successful as a leader and businesswoman, she needed to immerse herself in the business and lead the company to success, too. These entrepreneurial values were instilled in all five of the Varela siblings by their father, though they have had to learn a lot about running a modern business by getting their hands dirty.

For instance, Suany has had to learn to embrace being a leader in the face of social and cultural ideas of machismo, a social behavior pattern in which women are perceived as inferior. She refused to be discouraged, focusing on her work and improving the efficiency of the processing lines and the quality of the milk, cheese and yogurt that leave the factory doors.

Over time, she earned the respect of her family and the staff by working “shoulder to shoulder” with the team and, of course, “doing things right.”

These days, she is valued for her experience and her deep knowledge of the dairy business.

However, she still deals with difficult situations, taking these experiences for what they are — just another part of day-to-day operations.

“Every day we have to deal with different things, maybe some low-quality milk, or we have to do some other tests,” she said, referring to evaluations of the physical, chemical and hygienic characteristics of milk received from community milk collection and cooling centers to ensure it is safe and meets quality standards.

Of course, another test is her ability to manage people to ensure the highest-quality dairy products leave the facility. That’s the test of “working together and being able to work as a team to get the day's production going,” she said.

Alongside her siblings, she has spent countless hours learning about milk and dairy processing, training the staff and even creating manuals to ensure rigorous quality control. This included patiently explaining new procedures and demonstrating best practices.

For instance, “wearing a mask with [a] uniform correctly” is not optional, Suany explained.

These requirements are crucial to ensure the highest quality production standards are maintained throughout the facility, ensuring the staff complies with mandatory health and safety measures and that products do not become contaminated.

Scaling the business has required embracing change and being receptive to advice, constructive criticism and support from Heifer’s business advisors.

A significant boost to Boquerón’s development came once they agreed to partner with Heifer International to accept business development training, enabling the company to adopt better business planning and stronger accounting practices and reinforce its role as a reliable buyer for locally produced milk.

Heifer has been building sustainable dairy value chains in the region by connecting processing companies like Boquerón with farmers, coffee shops and other potential markets. These connections are the foundation upon which the dairy sector can scale with the right support.

The initiative is part of the Heifer Honduras Sustainable Livestock Signature Program, which is working to boost the livestock and beekeeping sectors in Honduras to bridge the income gap — the difference between what a family earns and what they need for a dignified life — for 136,880 families by 2030. The program focuses on enhancing productivity, expanding market access and implementing eco-friendly practices.

As a result of business development and operational support, including assistance with recordkeeping, financial planning and market analysis, Boquerón has been able to invest in more equipment and create better methods to strengthen the quality and the quantity of the milk it produces.

The collaboration with Heifer has been instrumental in helping Boquerón transition to sourcing milk from local community milk cooling centers, which has opened a new, sustainable supply of raw milk.

However, one particularly challenging period of this transition involved a major equipment upgrade using a pasteurizer imported from Argentina and milk tubes found in Wisconsin, the cheesemaking capital of the United States.

The new machinery is more efficient but required extensive staff retraining and full dedication by the Varela family. Suany worked tirelessly, often late into the night, to resolve challenges. Her brother, Carlos Varela, even left his desk where he works as the company’s commercial manager to personally retrofit parts of the existing infrastructure to integrate with the new machinery to save money.

Now, with the new equipment, the supply and demand equation is much more balanced, resulting in more regular income for dairy farmers, more safe and nutritious milk available in the community and less spoiling and waste.

“Week after week, the farmers who provide us with milk have a higher income,” Carlos said.

But, even though the factory is thriving and the farmers who supply Boquerón are doing much better than before, there is still much to achieve.

Suany’s vision certainly extends beyond the current factory walls. She dreams of expanding and opening new facilities in other rural communities within Honduras, bringing jobs and economic opportunities to the region and the country and beyond. She envisions a network of thriving dairy processing plants, all operating with the same efficiency and commitment to quality that she and her family have instilled in their original factory, and all contributing to a sustainable dairy value chain.

Though the Boquerón family business is located steps from the family home, the entire Varela family, like Suany, has big dreams of expanding the operation into all corners of Honduras, delivering high-quality, delicious milk, cheese and dairy products throughout the country.

And with a growing network of strong partnerships, fostered by Heifer, these ambitions are achievable.

An effective food system has many linkages between farmers and processors, consumers, shops and restaurants and the government entities that encourage and enforce safe food production. Heifer has been working in Honduras to support stakeholders within the dairy sector at every step of this system.

“We are working with municipalities on agreements to support producers. We are working with government organizations. That allows us to generate that support,” explained Daniela Torres, a technical business supervisor for Heifer.  

This initiative also includes facilitating market connections and creating an enabling environment to promote the exchange of entrepreneurial ideas between farmers, producers and processors, like Boquerón, who all aim to supply more nutritious food and meet the needs of Honduran consumers.

“The support they are giving us to be able to achieve [the dream] to be able to reach more families and to be able to benefit — we are going to achieve through this alliance that we have formed,” Carlos said.

She Means Business.
You Make It Possible.

With financing, training and the right tools, women farmers can build businesses, strengthen food systems and create lasting change. Your gift fuels their success.