There are eleven people, seven of them with intellectual disabilities, who have managed to overcome all the difficulties to make an innovative sweet that they have called Les Roques del Maresme. They are small rocky pieces of sugared almonds dipped in chocolate and honey that they themselves collect in the honeycombs of Can Parcala, the Cabrera de Mar farm from which they have launched the new gourmet product promoted by the Maresme Foundation, through a new formula that promotes the inclusion and labor insertion of people with special difficulties.
The artisan beekeepers of Can Parcala demonstrate that barriers are obstacles that can be overcome with perseverance. a quality that the estate's artisans have plenty of. They themselves collect up to 2.5 tons of honey each year, which they sell to cover the expenses of the activity.
With the presentation of Les Roques del Maresme, months of testing culminate to obtain an exclusive product for the most demanding palates and that has not gone unnoticed by large companies such as Mango or La Roca Village, which last year included it in their Christmas promotions. In 2023 alone, they managed to make 900 kilos of rocks presented in three formats: dark chocolate, milk chocolate and candied orange, and white chocolate with sesame seeds. An exquisite combination of sugared almonds with Can Parcala honey dipped in top quality chocolate. All ingredients come from local producers committed to inclusion, sustainability and respect for the environment.
In Can Parcala the beekeepers themselves are the protagonists of another project: the Beekeeping Classroom through which they make schoolchildren in the region aware of the importance of the pollinating function of bees.
The Can Parcala estate is owned by the Alsina i Arenas i Baum de Bernis Foundation, which, aware of the social work carried out by the Maresme Foundation with people with intellectual disabilities, gave it away free of charge in 2013.
The sweet rocks are the second product that the young people of the foundation have prepared for marketing. In this way, they learn the production of entrepreneurial products and enjoy therapeutic resources. With bees alone, the Can Parcala beekeepers obtain 2.5 tons of natural honey from a thousand flowers with which they also make the chocolate candy.
“We have the only beekeeping classroom in Europe,” explains Chema Magro, one of the monitors. With the honeycombs they have been able to make known the fragility of pollinating bees after overcoming the attack by Asian wasps that almost destroyed the livestock herd. With this, the children have also learned to be resilient and give added value to their daily activities.
On the day of the presentation, Miguel Àngel, one of the young people participating in the project, could not hide his enthusiasm when showing the new handmade product. “I'm very happy to be able to give you a taste of the rocks,” he said while nervously holding a tray with rows of the three varieties of sweets. “We make them and the salespeople sell them to make a little money,” he summarized, aware that his creation will soon stand out in the shop windows alongside the most exclusive gourmet products.
The team of beekeepers at Can Parcala has their work very well defined. A team of psychologists designed the tasks based on the professional skills of each of them to adapt them to a workplace and create what they joyfully call “pure craftsmanship.”
The Maresme Foundation is a non-profit entity that promotes inclusion and allows the active participation of the group of people with intellectual disabilities. It is a benchmark of social and solidarity economy that stands out for investing in innovation, knowledge and human capital to respond to the new emerging demands of the group, both at the level of information and guidance as well as assistance and treatment.
