Story
27 January 2026
Scaling Local Value: How Blended Finance Is Strengthening Bhutan’s Dairy Sector
As concessional flows narrow, small and medium agri-enterprises face a widening gap between early-stage grants and commercial loans that remain difficult to access. For Serkar Dairy Private Limited, that gap could have constrained growth. Instead, catalytic blended finance unlocked scale. In 2023, Serkar accessed BTN 2.7 million (US$ 32,401) through a blended structure combining grant support and concessional lending under a UN-supported agri-tech scale-up initiative. The package reduced investment risk while reinforcing financial discipline, 47 per cent of the loan has already been repaid, with no defaults. The financing enabled procurement and installation of automated cheese filling and packaging equipment, increasing daily processing capacity nearly sixfold: from 350 kilograms in 2023 to 2,000 kilograms in 2025. The impact extends across the value chain. Serkar now purchases 400–500 litres of milk daily from local farmers, strengthening rural incomes and market stability. Employment has expanded to 25 staff, with additional recruitment underway — surpassing the initial commitment of 13 jobs. Under its Ai-Gha brand, processed cheddar cheese is distributed through the Food Corporation of Bhutan and retail outlets across eight dzongkhags, contributing to import substitution and more resilient domestic supply chains. Serkar Dairy’s trajectory demonstrates how structured blended finance, combining risk-sharing capital with accountability, can enable enterprise growth aligned with national priorities. As Bhutan navigates its post-LDC transition, such models offer a pathway for scaling local industries, creating jobs, and strengthening economic resilience from within.