Fila Manila - A Filipino Simmer Sauce for Everyone
The Story of a Brand
Ramon Vela
5 • 145 Ratings
🗓️ 9 October 2022
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This episode is brought to you by Sendlane.
Jakes recounts the opportunity he saw in consumer packaged goods, “If Filipinos are such a big part of the community, then how come when I go to the major supermarkets and groceries in U.S., there's no Filipino food on the shelf at all. It's like we're almost kind of relegated to that dusty corner of the Asian section where you have these MSG packets and things like that.”
He continues, “So I just saw this huge disconnect because I saw a lot of things happening at pop culture about Filipino cuisine, a lot of Filipino celebrities popping up, and it kind of seemed like the right time to introduce Filipino food.”
Today we talked with Jake Deleon, Founder of Fila Manila. Fila Manila offers a range of Authentic Filipino simmer sauces inspired by the rich flavors of the Philippine Islands.
We discussed topics from becoming entrepreneurs, failed startup and the lessons learned and building the #1 Filipino food brand in the USA. Topics include:
* His gratefulness for his previous startup experience and the lessons learned
* Why food and beverage is such a special category to be in
* The story of how and why his first startup shutdown
* What is Fila Manila?
* Origin story of brand
* His biggest fear and why it benefits the consumer
* Why there aren’t more Filipino brands in U.S. market and why representing Filipino culture is so important to him and the brand
* Advice for Founders on price points, product value and ingredients
* Why he accepts and loves the idea of Fila Manila representing Filipino culture
* What is Filipino cuisine?
* Where to start in your journey with Fila Manila
Join Ramon Vela and Jake Deleon as we break down the inside story of Fila Manila, on The Story of a Brand.
For more on Fila Manila, visit: https://filamanila.com/
Subscribe and listen to the podcast on all major apps. Simply search for “The Story of a Brand,” or click here to listen on your favorite podcast player.
*
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So my fear is that, you know, we've been so blessed with this great traction and this consumer-facing representation of Filipino food. |
| 0:08.2 | My fear is that, you know, are the products that we're doing, are the messages that we're releasing out the public, |
| 0:13.3 | are they worthy of representing Filipino culture? |
| 0:16.4 | Are they worthy of representing our community? |
| 0:18.3 | Any mistake that we make in our products reflect poorly |
| 0:21.6 | on Filipino, on our food and our community. |
| 0:25.6 | So that keeps me, that makes me very concerned. |
| 0:27.6 | So, you know, if you look at the R&D, |
| 0:30.6 | if you look at the quality, |
| 0:31.6 | if you look at some of the marketing messages we roll out, |
| 0:33.6 | I mean, we always look after it, |
| 0:35.6 | after like maybe five layers of reviews. We just want to make sure |
| 0:38.6 | that, you know, we've been giving the opportunity to really give Filipino community and cuisine a shot at the market. |
| 0:46.7 | And so it'll be, it'll be remiss if he did it in the wrong way. This is the story of a brand, a podcast that helps people learn the story behind their |
| 1:05.2 | favorite consumer companies. I'm Ramon Vela, and I believe that people want to know more |
| 1:10.3 | about the brands and the products they purchase. |
| 1:12.5 | So each week, I interview the founder of a consumer brand, unpack their story, their products, and their mission, |
| 1:18.0 | so you can decide which products are worth buying and which brands are worth supporting. |
| 1:26.1 | In this interview, Jake recounts the opportunity he saw in consumer packaged goods, or CPG. |
| 1:32.3 | He says, |
| 1:33.3 | If Filipinos are such a big part of the community, then how come when I go to the major supermarkets and grocery chains in the U.S., |
| 1:42.3 | there's no Filipino food on the shelf at all. |
... |
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