A group of young people in Morelos have found a market in China for the decorated face masks they invented to help mothers and children in their hometown stay healthy.
The demand for face masks has skyrocketed in China as the country attempts to contain the spread of the coronavirus known as Covid-19.
The four entrepreneurs behind Changuitos (Little Monkeys) were contacted by the company E-FX to make a big order of their fun face masks, which they decorate with smiley faces, cartoon characters, pig noses and other designs.
They said that although it may appear they are being opportunistic, they have been making the masks since before the spread of the coronavirus made the masks a hot commodity.
“They called us opportunists, said that we were taking advantage of the scarcity of face masks … to make and sell these designs, but what they don’t know is that we created these face masks so that children would leave them on when they are sick,” Changuitos’ Eduardo Salas told the newspaper El Financiero.
They saw that mothers in their town had trouble getting their children to leave the face masks on when they were sick, so they founded Changuitos in a little workshop located at the city limits between Cuernavaca and Tepoztlán.
“The moment we put smiley faces on the face masks, they became more striking and the kids even wanted to show them off, because now they were part of their personalities,” said cofounder Susana Itzel.
But it’s not just human health that the company is worried about. The Changuitos founders are looking out for the environment as well. Made of cloth and cotton, the face masks can be washed and reused to avoid generating waste.
A mother herself, cofounder Diana Karen said that the increased demand has led them to open other Changuitos branches in Juitepec, Temixco, Cuernavaca and elsewhere in the state.
The company also personalizes mugs, pens, T-shirts, hats, aprons and coffee thermoses, and their work can be seen in a number of local restaurants, hotels, cafés and other businesses.
Source: El Financiero (sp)
