In an effort to promote self-employment towards families in local communities, GCM has identified opportunity areas to provide support for community-owned enterprises and entrepreneurship projects, as part of their CSR strategy.
The main goal of these actions is to provide local families chances to diversify their income, as well as to promote personal skill and community enhancement.
By endorsing a processed meat artisan production project in three stages. The meat of a whole pork was donated to local producers, while a food engineer and a chef provided technical and sales training.
The project takes place in San Miguel Ocotengo, a community belonging to Chalchicomula Municipality, state of Puebla. A group of women was trained with skills to produce and sell handcrafted processed meat products.
Raquel, who along with her husband has a small-scale domestic pork farm, and four other women founded the small enterprise named “Raquel Embutidos”. Thanks to support from GCM and skills acquired from a Chef, the company now produces and offers meat products to the general audience, such as longaniza sausage, Spanish style chorizo sausage, smoked pork chops, pastor meat and BBQ ribs.
All these are produced following organic methods, in compliance of hygiene and quality standards. The products are also preservative-free, which provides added value, in terms of market and consumption. Raquel comments: “Before, with the farm we would only grow pigs and sell to butcheries, who would take the biggest share of revenue. Now most of it is ours”.
As of today, these products are sold in community-run stores, home delivery, and several local markets.
