Ep 4: Jake Deleon, Fila Manila - A strategic saucy leap of faith

Black on Shelf

English - July 21, 2021 09:00 - 1 hour - 51.2 MB - ★★★★★ - 17 ratings
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Previous Episode: Ep 3: Kayla Castañeda, Agua Bonita - Accelerating through the power of partnership

Next Episode: Ep 5: SaVonne Anderson, Aya Paper Co. - Meeting the moment with creativity through sustainability and representation

This week, I spoke to Jake Deleon, founder of Fila Manila, the first modern Filippino-American food brand. His products consist of a range of authentic Filippino simmer sauces inspired by the rich flavors of the Philippine islands. He created Fila Manila to celebrate and share the joy of the Filipino family, culture, and delicious cuisine with the world.

Jake founded his first startup, Origin Almond, a line of functional almond-based beverages, and received investment from the Kraft Heinz Accelerator. It was a major success in its five years of existence, and was distributed to Mom's Organic Market and Walmart shelves. In February 2020, Origin Almond celebrated their highest grossing month and in March 2020, the covid pandemic lockdown impacted their business, and they decided to close shop and shift strategies where Jake forecasted greater opportunity would exist.

The setback did not stop Jake; he remained grateful and resilient. Inspired by a news article on Filippino frontline health workers, he did some research and discovered that Filipino cuisine was underrepresented and he decided to bridge the gap. His goal was to create authentic Filipino sauces with clean ingredients, and he smashed it! Fila Manila currently retails on Amazon.com and in Whole Foods, and has already been listed as the fastest-selling Asian food product.

For the full show notes, visit our website: https://www.blackonshelf.com/episodes

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Connect with Jake:

Visit Fila Manila’s website: https://filamanila.com/

Follow Fila Manila on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatfilamanila/

Follow Fila Manila on Twitter: https://twitter.com/eatfilamanila

Visit Fila Manila on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eatFilaManila/

Follow Jake on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jacobcdeleon

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