Natural Cosmetics in Guatemala
The LATA Foundation provided all the start up costs to fund a cottage industry near Antigua to produce a range of natural cosmetics in conjunction with As Green as it Gets. Equipment included a 20 ton oil press to process coconut oil, cocoa butter and avocado oil, a filtration system and vacuum distiller, scales, blenders and all the necessary equipment for producing and packaging a range of products, including hand cream and a line of scented oils.
Case Study: Maria Benita
One of our projects team, Claire Betts of Last Frontiers, travelled to Guatemala recently on a trip hosted by Viaventure. They kindly arranged for her to meet up with As Green as it Gets. This is an edited extract of Claire’s report, the full version can be found on the LATA Foundation website:
'Hello, my name is Maria Benita' says the small figure in halting English. Maria Benita is shy and she takes some coaxing but within moments of talking to her you can tell how driven and determined she is. Thanks to the LATA Foundation and with the guidance of Franklin Vorhoes of As Green as it Gets, she started making a lip balm three years ago. Her original product, Maria Benita’s Lip Balm, is made from beeswax, mint and macadamia oil. She says it was a struggle at first, that she didn't know what she was doing or how to market her product. But with a lot of hard work and guidance she has gone on to sell over 3,500 lip balms and has branched out from the original vanilla flavour into other flavours.
As Green as it Gets has a small coffee shop, the Whiskey Den, which sells her lip balms and the other soaps, shampoos and creams produced as a result of LATA Foundation support. Maria herself visits Spanish schools in Antigua a couple of times a month and in a good afternoon can sell about twenty balms to foreign students. She can sell around another twenty at a fair trade market once or twice a month.
Maria Benita is still in her teens. She is studying sustainable tourism and English, studies which she now pays for herself. Thanks to her, the eleven members of the family household now have their first proper shower and a lavatory with running water. Her prospects are good. Until recently she had never used a computer, now she has her own e-mail account. Maria is hoping to start exporting to the United States soon.
The LATA Foundation will continue to watch – and report - her progress with interest.
Maria Benita’s Lip Balm We are delighted to introduce you to Maria Benita. Maria Benita’s Lip Balm made from beeswax and macadamia oil. The production process is supporting the Gonzalez family in beekeeping, a number of farmers in the production of macadamia nuts and the Pinzon family in processing the nuts to extract macadamia oil. By supporting local farmers in producing castor beans, aloe vera, cardamom, cacao, pine kernel, avocados and coffee fruit, by providing capital equipment and training processors, we are helping produce new products for which there is already a market. Maria has sold 3500 units to date. This has enabled her to install a proper shower and lavatory with running water in the family home. She is hoping to start exporting to the United States soon
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