Jacob DeLeon gives the Sharks a taste of Fila Manila, his line of Filipino sauces and spreads, in Shark Tank episode 1517. Jake is no stranger to the food industry. The Harvard MBA grad spent 6 years at Proctor and Gamble as a brand manager and started his own beverage business. With nearly 20% of the Asian population in America identifying as Filipino, he thinks he has a $3 billion market to sell to.
Fila Manila products include Adobo sauce, Kare Kare peanut sauce, Isla sauce, Ube Purple Yam spread, and Banana Ketchup. The company is committed to sustainability and recently transitioned away from glass jars to more eco-friendly pouches for their products. The Banana Ketchup is also Upcycled Certified using upcycled banana puree in over 50% of the product.
Founded in 2020, Fila Manila is quickly gaining traction and shelf space. The products are in Whole Foods, Fresh Thyme Markets, Stop & Shop, Whole Foods Market, Target, Amazon, and Meijer. Prices range from $3.99 a container to $7.99. Jake likely wants a Shark’s help expanding the business.
Company Information
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Posts about Fila Manila on Shark Tank Blog
Discover the Flavors of Fila Manila Sauces
Fila Manila Shark Tank Recap
Jacob come into the Tank and tells the Sharks he’s a first generation Phillipino/American. He was born in the Phillipines and raised in the exotic land of New Jersey. Phillipinos are the third largest Asian community in the USA and their food is the fastest growing Asian cuisine but there’s almost zero representation of Phillipino food in most grocery stores – until today. At Fila Manila, they’re here to represent the next generation of Phillipino/American flavors. He’s seeking $250,000 for 5% equity in his business. He asks who wants to join him in bringing this food and culture to the rest of the country.
Samples and Questions
He’s prepared a full course meal for the Sharks using all the Fila Manila products. He has banana ketchup with fries. Daniel likes it. It has half the sugar and carbs as regular ketchup. There is Chicken Adobo, the unofficial national dish of the Phillipines. The Sharks love it. The second entree is shrimp Kare-Kare which is the Phillipino version of a peanut sauce. The Adobo and Kare-Kare are cooking sauces you can add to anything you want to cook at home. For dessert, there’s the Ube spread, a traditional Yam jam from the Phillipines.
Kevin says he must have a lot of sales with the $5 million valuation. His earliest food memories was making Phillipino delicacies with his mom in the kitchen. They’d sell the food for extra income. He worked in “big food” as a career. He worked at Proctor and Gamble and Starbucks building billion dollar brands. Like most crazy entrepreneurs, he loved to build and create and he loved food. When the Covid lockdowns happened, he read that 20% of the frontline healthcare workers were Phillipino. That’s what brought his attention to the lack of representation in the market. During that period, he used his stimulus checks to make the first prototypes of his products.
The Numbers
In 2020, he launched into his first store and did $6000 in sales. 2021 expanded to $50,000 and in 2022 he did $400,000. Year to date in 2023, he’s at $150,000 and projects about $800,000 for the year. He moved his margins to 55% by getting away from glass packaging. The pouches cost $1.60 to make, they wholesale for $3.33 and retail for $5.99. Daniel loves the product but thinks the valuation is “very rich.” Jacob says he’s the leading Phillipino food product in the USA.
Mark wants to know where he’s selling it because it’s hard to sell it on a shelf unless there’s a large Phillipino community out there. He started in 1 Whole Foods, then expanded to 1 region, then to 4 regions. At first 10% of sales were online from Amazon and 90% of sales were retail. Kevin says he’s not worth $5 million. Daymond asks about other investors and Jacob says he raised $900,000 at an $8 million valuation and Daymond says he’s “giving us a discount.”
Is Anybody In?
Lori says his biggest problem is he came in at too high of a valuation and his second biggest problem is educating people about Phillipino food. Since she didn’t hear how he’s going to educate non Phillipinos about his products she’s out. Jacob wants to use the investment to create content to address what Lori is talking about. Mark says he didn’t hear about demand being there; he’s out. Daymond says it would be hard to have the passion to talk about something he can’t eat; he’s out. Kevin says his numbers indicate he’ll be flat this year. He doesn’t think the business is worth $5 million; he’s out. Daniel finds Jacob very credible and he wants to work with him. Daniel offers $250,000 for 20%. Jacob then pulls out a golden ticket that says “royalty” on it. Jacob offers $250,000 for a 5% royalty on retail sales and 8% on online sales until the money is recouped in exchange for 5% of the company. The offer is for all the Sharks to consider.
Kevin is suddenlly back in. He offers the royalty structure until he recoups $500,000 for 10% of the company. Daniel doesn’t accept Jacob’s royalty deal, but offers to go to 15% if Jacob reaches his sales goals. Jacob accepts!
Fila Manila Shark Tank Update
The Shark Tank Blog constantly provides updates and follow-ups about entrepreneurs who have appeared on the Shark Tank TV show. As of the first re-run of this episode in June, 2024 – about 3 months after the original air date – there is no hard evidence the deal with Daniel closed. On show night, Daniel Tweeted this:
Salamat, or thank you, Filla Manila! It’s clear to me that Jake is an exceptional entrepreneur with passion and purpose. I can’t wait to watch him bring Filipino cuisine into the spotlight and represent his Filipino community in stores across the nation! Have you ever tried Filipino sauces? #SharkTank
@abcsharktank
At this time, the products can be found in Whole Foods in the northeast and west coast, Meijer’s in the midwest and several dozen independent markets.
The Shark Tank Blog will follow-up on Fila Manila & Jacob DeLeon as more details become available.
