Gralesa

Francisca López, a Ñañu indian, summarizes what her business means to her, "Gralesa is like my third child".

She is proud of her company, which produces medicinal plant-based skin and hair-care products, and adds, "We provide health and beauty.

"I arrived in the Mezquital Valley, Hidalgo 8 years ago as one of a group of people sent by the government. They made us see the importance of getting organized and working to make the most of our own resources.

"So 25 of us from the Xothi community got together on a project in which we each invested 50 pesos. But they got tired very quickly.

"But I decided to go on by myself because when I applied the medicinal plants to my family, I discovered they worked on hair and skin care; and the worst part is that all of us here were throwing them in the trash.

"I raised pigs and at that time I had 20. I decided to sell them and was able to raise 6 or 7 thousand pesos which I used to set up my business 7 or 8 years ago now.

"I am proud and, above all, grateful, especially to the Secretariat of Economy who recently loaned me 350,000 pesos which we were able to use to build a production workshop, buy inputs and obtain a vehicle that we use for market and to distribute our products.

"We currently produce and sell exfoliants, creams, shampoos, soaps, salves and dyes. All of them," she explains, "are organic products, and we have even applied to have them certified."
Among the company's most sought-after products are aloe creams, chile and rosemary shampoos, aloe soaps and dragon's blood salves.

Gralesa is made up of 5 women and a man, all Ñañu indians from the town of Chilcuautla, Hidalgo. The group has been legally established since 2006 and has a registered brand and a barcode.

Its integrants train continually to offer quality products and good service; they are often invited to exhibit in forums, events and national sales fairs like the SMB weeks.

They also attend as speakers at higher education institutions such as the Autonomous University of Chapingo, the Autonomous University of Mexico, the Autonomous University of the State of Hidalgo and the Escuela Bancaria Mercantil.