 His parents owned a "ventorrillo" (rudimentary market stall) that sold homemade foodstuff such as "piñonate", a local delicacy made of sweetened pine-nut kernels.Most of these were sold on the street by Gregorio and his siblings in order to help the family livelihood.Around the age of 14, Gregorio began working for Pedro Eduardo Dubocq, a local timber businessman of French origin.