NURTURING RESILIENCE ONE BEE AT A TIME
MEET ENTREPRENEUR AURORA ZEAS
"My name is Aurora Zeas, owner of Zeas Apícola, where we work with everything honey."
Aurora’s passion for bees began as a child in Nicaragua.
"Since I was young, I loved animals, but bees changed everything. In 2003, a beekeeping organization invited my father to participate in a basic beekeeping course. They gave him two beekeeping suits and hives. The first time we put on the suits and heard the buzzing of the bees, it was paralyzing and exciting."
At first, Aurora and her family relied on Google searches to find resources to train themselves on busy weekends, eventually setting up Zeas Apícola in 2010. Then in 2014, Aurora’s father and siblings decided to explore new business opportunities, leaving Aurora to manage the company on her own. Her husband joined the effort in 2020 as Aurora grew the business.
Aurora is an example of entrepreneurship and resilience. Thanks to the PlusPlus crowdfunding platform, Aurora has expanded her business and helped women in her community thrive.
Difficult decisions fuel creativity
Aurora's path to a successful business hasn't always been easy.
"Three years ago, due to a lack of business education and bad financial decisions, we had to make big structural changes. COVID-19 also provided new challenges.”
"And at the same time, there was another overwhelming situation: motherhood. My children are my greatest love, but I never thought that being a mom would occupy so much time. Before that I filled late nights with hard work that I never felt because I loved working with the bees, but now those hours belong to my children."
The cumulative impact of these challenges led Aurora to let go of most of her staff and manage the entire business on her own. As the effects of the pandemic became more dire, she and her husband rented out their home and moved the family into the production plant, which allowed them to combine family time with business aspirations.
"Living close to the production plant has been helpful: we open the production plant, we get up early if we have to, and we do everything we need to keep the company going."
But the most difficult change came when she had to sell her hives.
"Aurora is a positive example in Nicaragua. She has a unique spark and strength, and she manages all areas of the company: strategy, finances, corporate, and commercial," Lucette Martinez, PlusPlus coordinator at Solidaridad.
"Aurora is a positive example in Nicaragua. She has a unique spark and strength, and she manages all areas of the company: strategy, finances, corporate, and commercial," Lucette Martinez, PlusPlus coordinator at Solidaridad.
The power of resilience
For small entrepreneurs, like Aurora, the lack of access to funding on favorable terms can force drastic decisions, especially in a situation like the pandemic.
"I was desperate, and I took out a high-interest credit that could not be repaid at the time they demanded; if I had received the credit on better terms, maybe I would have been able to repay it."
As the situation worsened, Aurora’s husband discovered PlusPlus, an online crowdfunding platform. "My husband was on Facebook and sent me the link to a story about PlusPlus. I thought crowdfunding was just for raising funds as a gift for sick people or social causes. At first, I didn't believe it," Aurora said.
Aurora contacted PlusPlus and Solidaridad, and after working through the process, she was able to access funding in early 2023. PlusPlus uses crowdfunding to support economic development and sustainable food production in developing countries. PlusPlus was launched in 2020 as a partnership between Lendahand, Solidaridad and Cordaid, and impact investor Truvalu. In Central America, the platform provides access to financing for agrifood SMEs.
Rebuilding a company rooted in innovation and quality
Zeas Apícola's mission is to produce high-quality honey and commercialize it on an international scale. As part of that mission, they launched their own brand, BiiBii to widen their offering. They also worked hard to earn certifications that assure buyers of their product's quality, safety, and production practices.
"I like to learn about all that can be done with honey and other products, such as pollen, propolis, and royal jelly. That way we can diversify the products we offer."
Zeas Apícola has dramatically expanded their product offering to include:
- Honey-based products like chili-honey, barbecue sauces, cacao-honey, honey with ginger, and honey with cardamom and cinnamon
- Natural cosmetics and handmade soaps based on honey and argan oil, and honey and beeswax
- Natural medicines, including Biitocin, a cough syrup based on honey, ginger, lemongrass, and mint; and Biirelax, a relaxing syrup made with a combination of seven herbs and honey.
Adapting to a changing climate
Ensuring a healthy supply of nectar is one of a beekeeper’s biggest challenges. Oftentimes, it involves moving bees to different places where plants are flowering, which is challenging, but necessary. Aurora is now exploring how to maintain stationary apiaries.
"One of our new projects is to increase the number of stationary apiaries. How do we achieve this? By cultivating different crops with different flowering periods. The idea is to be able to go back to agriculture so that the bees and the crops support each other."
Stationary apiaries are easier to manage and support the growth of bee populations, which have been impacted by climate change.
"Climate change affects us all, but first, it affects the bees because they are more vulnerable," says Aurora.
Lifting up rural families
Zeas Apícola is proud to work with rural communities. The company has built a network of beekeepers that covers most of the beehives in the country, most of them rural families. Zeas Apícola works with more than 140 families and maintains constant contact with them.
Now, Aurora is developing a programme to engage the women in the supply chain to educate them on bee care and entrepreneurship.
"It has been difficult to find women honey suppliers. This programme has the potential to help women improve their household economies and support the proliferation of bees. I have seen how families are improving their livelihoods with children in school instead of working, and how the women have been able to improve their homes."
Collaborating to continue innovation
PlusPlus is now supporting Aurora as she develops her next product, a 14-gram honey packet. The financing has allowed them to invest in the materials needed to launch the new product.
"The honey packet is a project I have considered for many years. Most people don't buy honey because of its price. Reducing the portions gives consumers more flexibility. It's perfect for mothers who worry about what their children consume at school, for athletes who need that energy boost, or for food chains looking to provide a topping for pancakes," Aurora says.
Zeas Apícola is a family business where each member works together to make quality products and to support the proliferation of bees.
"It’s inspiring to meet more agribusinesses in Central America and see how PlusPlus can provide access to non-traditional financing. In PlusPlus and Solidaridad, we see an opportunity to close gaps that hinder the social and environmental impacts of small and medium-sized enterprises in the region."
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