By eating Quali amaranth, you boost your nutrition, help curb desertification and improve the living conditions of 1,500 peasant families in the region of Tehuacán, Puebla and its surroundings.

The Quali amaranth agro-industry food chain began in 1995 with the peasant and indigenous families responsible for looking after the water and soil where they have grown selected organic amaranth seeds for a quarter of a century.

The Quali product range comes in several presentations: powder mixes for making soft drinks, milkshakes, cookies and cakes; popped amaranth to eat as cereal, and healthy amaranth snacks and goodies rich in protein, minerals and vitamins. When amaranth is combined with beans and corn, it creates the “ideal protein” the body needs.

Grupo Cooperativo Quali currently comprises several cooperatives bringing together 1,500 families scattered throughout the Mixteca Popoloca region in Puebla and a number of towns in Oaxaca, Veracruz and Tlaxcala, and they are the leading amaranth producer.

This social enterprise was created to address local problems of malnutrition, lack of employment and migration, and has focused on women, the poorest families and people with disabilities.

Origins

Although the Grupo Cooperativo Quali project was created in 1995, its founders, Raúl Hernández Garciadiego and Gisela Herrerías Guerra, arrived in the semi-arid region of Puebla in 1980. Their mission was to find models to overcome poverty in rural and indigenous regions, regenerate nature and create jobs and wealth for families.

This social enterprise currently brings together 96 cooperatives with 1,500 families who grow the amaranth plant in an 850-hectare area, together with corn and beans.

Since the main problem in the region was water scarcity, the group has also attempted to revive indigenous soil and water conservation technologies, through a program twinned with Quali called Agua para Siempre.