Long Island dairy company brings Central American flavors to New York tables

Nelson & Isa Lácteos LLC, a Bay Shore family business, has spent eight years supplying Central American dairy products to households, bodegas, delis, restaurants and grocers across Long Island and the New York metro area. The company now serves roughly 250 to 300 accounts across 125 to 135 communities, reflecting the reach of Hispanic-owned small businesses in the region.

Why it matters: - Nelson & Isa Lácteos LLC serves Central American and Hispanic communities that often rely on neighborhood businesses for familiar foods. - The company helps keep local supply chains close to home by serving small shops, community events and families that larger distributors may overlook. - Hispanic-owned employer businesses made up 8.4% of all U.S. employer firms in 2023, with about 496,000 companies generating $730.3 billion in receipts, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

What happened: - Nelson & Isa Lácteos LLC, based in Bay Shore on Long Island, has spent eight years making and distributing authentic Central American dairy products. - Founders Nelson Hernández and Isabel Ramos started the family-run business and still operate it together. - The company now serves roughly 250 to 300 accounts across 125 to 135 communities. - Customers include households, bodegas, delis, restaurants and grocers across Long Island and the New York metropolitan area. - The company website is More information.

The details: - Hernández grew up in rural El Salvador around cows, pigs and chickens. - He learned to milk cows at age nine. - His grandmother taught him to make fresh artisan cheese by hand. - Hernández said the family recipes had been passed down for generations. - A visit to his sister in Maryland later put him back around dairy farms and inspired him to build a business around those flavors. - Hernández began by visiting local businesses one at a time and asking for a chance. - Early customers expanded through word of mouth from one account to two, then ten, and eventually hundreds. - The company name reflects both founders, and Hernández said the business would not exist without Isabel. - The family around the business includes Hernández’s two children, plus the daughter and grandchildren he gained through Isabel. - Hernández said he still checks every detail himself.

Between the lines: - The business is built around nostalgia as much as commerce, with products meant to reconnect customers to the tastes of home. - Nelson & Isa Lácteos has found a lane serving independent neighborhood shops that larger distributors often skip. - The company’s community role appears to extend beyond sales, including church events, community gatherings and help for local families. - Hernández frames the business as part heritage project and part family legacy, not just a commercial dairy operation.

What's next: - Nelson & Isa Lácteos is likely to keep leaning on its neighborhood network, family management and Central American product focus as it serves more communities. - Hernández said he wants younger entrepreneurs to keep learning and believe in what they are building. - He said the sacrifices made now can become blessings for future generations.

The bottom line: - Nelson & Isa Lácteos has turned family recipes, immigrant memory and local hustle into a business with broad reach across the New York region.