September 10, 2021

The Bhutan Foundation and BAOWE supported the women group to buy deep freezers and coolers in May

The biggest challenge faced by the dairy farmers of Sunkiri village in Haa has been their inability to market their butter and cheese in the cities. Due to the long distance to the market, products often go bad in transit and can’t be sold. However, with the support of the Bhutan Foundation and BAOWE in May to buy deep freezers and coolers, this is now no longer the case!

With their new cooling packaging, the dairy group, led by 12 women entrepreneurs, sent their butter (6kg) and cheese (100 balls) to be sold in the urban centers. According to one member, 1,000 balls of cheese and 10kgs of butter have already arrived at the nearby center with proper storage from production sites in just the last month.

“We are grateful to the Bhutan Foundation and Bhutan Association of Women Entrepreneurs (BAOWE) for the support. This has provided us the opportunity to plan for the future including the chance to add value to our existing products such as making clarified butter (Ghee),” said a member of the group.

Earlier this year, this kind of expansion was not feasible due to the inability to store the required volumes of butter in fear of produce going rancid.

According to our partner, BAOWE, the project has resulted in the group growing more confident as they plan on increasing the number of cattle to grow their economic opportunities. This improvement hasn’t gone unnoticed either. The fact that Sunkiri is gaining prominence through these activities has prompted neighboring villages to reach out to BAOWE for similar advice.