Cien Chiles

0:00Maria Covarrubias:Welcome to the Emerging Brands Podcast with Kelly Bennett. This is the podcast to discover stories behind your new favorite CPG brands. Each episode brings you behind the scenes of the brand and founder story, learn what sets them apart in the marketplace, and their strategy going to market. We talk about plans for growth, practical advice for an emerging brand founder, and where to shop products that are making waves in food, beverage, wellness, beauty, and beyond. You'll also hear from industry experts, brand builders, investors, and operators you should absolutely have on your radar if you're building a CPG brand today.

0:44Maria Covarrubias:I'm your host, Kelly Bennett, a Brooklyn-based brand strategist with a front row seat of what makes an emerging CPG brand stand out. Whether you're building a brand of your own or love supporting what's next, you're in the right place. This episode was made possible by our sponsor, Hummingbirds. Hummingbirds is a platform that connects everyday small creators with brands that drive user-generated content, build buzz at specific retailers, and captures competitive market share. It's a tool that I recommend to all of my clients that you should absolutely check out. Head to hummingbirds.com for all the details.

1:27Maria Covarrubias:Now let's dive into the new episode. Hi everyone. Welcome back to a new episode of Emerging Brands Podcast with Kelly Bennett. Today I have a founder that I've been genuinely looking forward to having her on the podcast. I don't even live in the same state as her, but I see her popped up everywhere. Maria Carvar-Ruvias, the founder of Cien Cheles is here. Maria thank you so much for coming on the podcast thank you so much for having me it is I feel like we've been I've been it's been years in the making finally being here so very excited it's happening and I couldn't be happier your sauces are genuinely part of my rotation I absolutely love them from the first moment I tried them it really stood out to me the flavors the complexity Then I realized that you are a trained chef and that totally made sense.

2:26Maria Covarrubias:So before we dive more into your story, I would love if you could just tell people the brand story of what is the product and brand itself. Absolutely. We're, um, C &Chiles, we're about to turn five years old. Amazing. So I know in August, so we launched, uh, August of 2020. I've always had a big passion to share food with people since I was since I was young and obviously like in high school and college years I really enjoyed kind of like watching people enjoy my food was something that always filled my heart so when I moved to this country to become a chef at the Culinary Institute that I'll go into detail a little later I really couldn't find a good salsa or a good sauce that I could pour on my food.

3:20So I'm like, oh my gosh, like I just went, I just couldn't find anything really tasty that made me feel like I was home and I didn't have a chance or time to make my own. So I'm like, oh, maybe one day I should bottle some salsa. So that came about, yeah, I moved here about 10 years ago, no, 13 years ago, a little longer than that. So that idea was always in the back of my head of bringing something flavorful. And then the pandemic hit, and I'll go into a little more detail in a little bit, but I was working in the industry, in the CPG industry. And it really, it was kind of like a silver lining for us to support my family.

4:04And it started like a side gig. We started online only, and all of a sudden, the demand started getting crazy and crazy. And, and yeah, that's how C &Chiles was born. It was out of out of out of the need to support our family and of that idea, obviously, to bring something meaningful and flavorful that people would enjoy at home.

4:28Maria Covarrubias:Absolutely. I get all of those points. Honestly, just the first taste. I was like, yes, this is good. This is really good. So tell me more about your background. I know that you are a trained chef moving to the States and you also worked in CPG. Tell us how did that come about? Connect those thoughts for us. For sure. Yes. So I grew up in Mexico. I was I lived in Mexico most of my life for now. I went to school down there and I went to, I had my degrees in clinical nutrition. So I finished my degree down there and I always wanted to become a chef. My mom's a widower. My father passed away when I was around 14.

5:16So she always, I feel like she always felt the need for me to like have a title and, you know, be like do something for my life. and I always loved food and cooking and she was like that's just one of your hobbies like let's just like make sure you have a certificate I'm like okay great so thanks to that actually I was able to attend the CIA for a shorter program which is highly focused on cooking so it's like 90 % of the program is based in like cooking skills and like it's very intense it's like a full year it's called ACAP for its Accelerated Culinary Art Program. So I moved to Napa when I'm when I was 25 to go to attend the CIA in San Helena at the time.

6:06And, and after working in kitchens, I graduated. I stayed in the valley. I worked with Thomas Keller for a few years. that's cool yes it is it was very rewarding and a lot of learning um during those times it's definitely it's definitely something else it is um how how they you know managed to to educate and um like keep a straight line keep a clean kitchen like it is it is very magical how everything unfolds in there and behind behind closed doors um so I'm super grateful and I transferred with them to New York City so from Napa I moved to New York um and I experienced more of like the front of the house of uh of service and running a restaurant because eventually I'm like I'm sure I'm gonna own a restaurant one day you know as a chef you're like yes I'll have my spot.

7:05But then things start changing. And then of course, I started realizing, you know, what big of a commitment and hassle it is to, to have a place of your own. So it's just kind of magical how everything started unfolding after I left New York City and moved to San Diego. And shortly after that, I got a job at Chosen Foods, the avocado oil company. oh very cool yes so I I was one of the ladies who started the innovation department there um and you know it was like first first it was just dressings and then it became guacamole and then it became this and cookie sauces and all these things right um so I ended up um successfully creating or innovating over 35 SKUs with with Chosen which was awesome I have my over 35 SKUs.

8:02Maria Covarrubias:Yes, that's incredible. And what a great work environment for them to also realize your talent and pair that up to innovation. And you had this platform to sounds be incredibly creative. Yes, it really was. And I really enjoyed my I loved my job at Chosen because not only I had the opportunity to to create like innovation in product, but also like I would cook once a month for all staff meetings. And like it was like I was like the in-house caterer for for a few events. And I really enjoy that. I love like it was just a beautiful combination of, you know, work, different kind of jobs that I had within my role.

8:54So I ended up being a culinary director there and I learned so much about so much, you know, like I used to fly everywhere around the country and in Mexico to run production. And, um, I would fly to every single show from fancy food to expo to this, to that. So it honestly was, um, it set me off for success. I really, I really am forever grateful for the opportunity I received. Um, and that also gave me the tools to successfully build my business, which is the nature of life. You know, it is, it is something that I'm always grateful for and I'll always kind of like pass it forward to, to share everything I know, and the mistakes that I've made, and the learnings that I've had to, to be where I am.

9:43Maria Covarrubias:So it sounds like that opportunity was almost getting your master's. And now you're applying all of your skills and all of your experiences into your own brand. So walk me through, how did your own brand manifest? so um so I've been I have been doing a lot of innovation for them and having I kind of like always had this kind of like project on my mind of like bringing my heritage my Mexican heritage into the world and having it be um in the same so I was telling somebody a couple days ago how I felt so proud, you know, to see the product that I had created for chosen in the market or like a spice or like a chipotle mayo that I worked on like in the lab, you know, it was for me, it was so rewarding to see my work, like in completion at the store that when I'm like, Oh, my gosh, like, I really want to like put my stamp on that one day, you know?

10:46Yes. And it's all happened. I had a great relationship with my my superiors I'd chosen. And when I had this idea, I was very upfront with them and to share like I have this thought of creating something of my own. And that's right around when the pandemic hit. And my husband lost his company. um and i you know i was my my my spark of thought was like okay you're really good at making things let's start in a commercial let's start it in our kitchen see where it goes and um and that's really where it all started to unfold and you know like kind of like take place and a line where it was the silver lining of the situation and over the weekends i would manufacture like 80 bottles at a time which is really nothing um so we started selling online um and my husband has been all hands on deck um since the get-go which is incredible he is the business kind of like the business brain a lot of it um and his organizational skills are immaculate so it's just been a great mix of my experience and his like he is all like i don't know i i call him the the mad hatter of the company because he really does the logistics and has like um spreadsheet and operations inventory systems yes so which is a nice a nice balance to a creative right we are

12:27Maria Covarrubias:the front of the house we're the creatives we come up with the ideas but to have your person be ops systems, logistics, wheel it in. It actually helps, I think, in my experience, a creative go further faster because when you have some parameters to work around and someone to help keep it on track, it actually gives you that space to, I think, be even more creative. So I love that combo with you and your husband. I know. Honestly, like we're, we're, we've, come this far because of both of our hard work. And yeah, and when we launched in Chile, we never thought it would like pick up so quickly. So speaking about the process of when we like went to market.

13:14So we launched August 2020. And for the first six months, it was online only. Was it just your website? Yes, just in our website. So we started there. We built a beautiful brand, which I feel it was the longest time um or like anything that we've really worked on was developing the brand and like make sure the packaging shows that like my heritage for mexico but not like in your face like i feel like i don't know packaging that's even for food for anything like love starts with

13:47Maria Covarrubias:the eyes so i'm like right it has to be it has to be great eye catching and the product i know it would be something of my creation that I would like obviously hands down trust um and uh we started selling in a few retailers locally and it got to the point where I couldn't manufacture enough um so I reached out to a co-packer up in Oregon and it's a female-owned I love supporting women in business. So our brand, like our brand creator, she's incredible. And if anybody needs anybody listening who needs someone to lean on about brand creation and strategy, she's amazing. And then I found this co-packer up in Oregon.

14:40Maria Covarrubias:And also she's, you know, she's incredible. And that's also kind of like the big portion of succeeding as a CPG brand is partnering with people that can like support your growth and give you that leverage to continue. So that has been definitely a key item into our growth. And also, so we started manufacturing with her January of 21. So since then, we've been going strong with her and always being so cautious to not like shoot ourselves in the foot with like a lot of inventory. She had like minimums that we could bear too. So and soon after that, I reached out to the Whole Foods buyer at that time and shipped product to her house because there was no office.

15:36Everyone was home.

15:37Maria Covarrubias:Right. Because this is still the. 2020. right you're in it yeah i mean 2021 right so 2021 so she fell in love with the sauces um so we have four different uh sauces one is a pickled mustard seed uh sauce which is um pretty magical you got it too did i send that to you yes yeah um which is crunchy and magical i feel i feel like that's the crown jewel as a chef for me like it's a great accomplishment because mustard is tough. Working with mustard is definitely no joke. And then the three other sauces, which are more like a blended salsa that have like this full, I feel like it's a full, like a full body wine, but like a full body salsa.

16:25So it's like the layers of flavor and the acidity and the texture that's so like creamy and delightful.

16:32Maria Covarrubias:I love the creamy texture. That was one of the things that really stood out to me was the texture. yeah it's very unique because it's all made with vegetables you know and so it's right it's legit like a salsa but in a different form um and um she fell in love with the product the whole foods buyer and she's like okay let's work on it let's bring it into the southern pacific region or soap pack region um so within a year we were launching at whole foods so we had not even been in business for two years and we were launching at whole foods so that was like i feel like a huge milestone for a business our size and we started here and of course having working with unify big distributors um that gives you the leverage to get higher distribution get into more stores so honestly like just everything has been kind of like cautious growth or strategic growth in a way where we didn't bite more than we could chew at the time.

17:37Maria Covarrubias:So I was going to ask you because even two years in to be in Whole Foods is a big jump, right? So I've heard a lot of tales of brands going too fast, too soon, and just having the capital to fulfill orders for those types of stores. So what has been your approach to make that strategic, sustainable and profitable as you're scaling? Yes. So I think that that has been something we really focused on from early on. Because you can't, you know, shoot for the stars and hope you'll land in a few of them. It's not in this in this industry. Unfortunately, you need a lot of money to start making money. Right.

18:20So dealing with large distributors, which like Felipe had to learn. the hard way because he's the one who's more involved in all that and all those systems to like deductions things like that where it's like it takes you off guard and and you have to pay and like no but I can like this is I don't know it is it is one too many complicated layers of of how to get there but keeping the focus on growing at one place at a time so we're we're based in San Diego so it made total sense for us to launch Southern California first right because that's you know the reach we had and as you were saying like I we I I'm slowing down a little more right now but um doing demos was always such a huge part and I still like now we have some brand ambassadors um here and there but essentially like staying focused on keeping up with the growth and not over overreach to to places you can't get there yet you know and uh we don't have any employees it's just Felipe and I a couple of friends it's still both of you just just wow so uh yeah we we then like a couple years later we launched into central market in Texas so we're in about 20 states, I want to say, now over 330 doors, including like Whole Foods and Central Market in Texas, which Whole Foods we launched this year.

20:00And it's also like being like for any small brand owners that are catching in, having distributor shows and like shows that you can sell your product I have found so much more value than um like the shows that you know like expo and it's it's big investment so we've never done expo we've never done fancy food because because of the amount of money you need to just stand there and hope for the best you know um so what

20:34Maria Covarrubias:type of trade shows are you talking about as far as distribution distributor shows so distributor shows okay uh-huh so they're called they're they're they're selling shows essentially so um that has been also very fruitful and we found so many buyers in different spots so now we're in four different distribution centers with our distributors so like all like pacific northwest all the way down to southern california and now in texas um so that has been and all it all has been fruit of those selling shows where we meet the buyers from different stores that have 16 20 locations like in utah in right seattle area so that that has given us the opportunity to grow or like in spanish we say you're we try to give a step with with our guarache on with our sandals on so you don't want to give a step without the sandals on so you should have your sandals on i like that.

21:38Maria Covarrubias:I like that. Yes, totally. What's an example of a distributor show just for someone listening who hasn't been aware of that option? So either Unify or Kehi, they hold seasonal shows. Like it's they do summer in the early winter. So it's like it's a little bit off, but they they have seasonal shows where you set up a table and basically it is for retailers to come or wholesalers to come so everyone walks around and you have like your listed product from either of the distributors and then you literally place an order there with like a promotion or something like to launch in like two to three months things like that got it so something to look yeah look into especially a great piece of advice I haven't heard that talked about on the podcast yet oh really oh my gosh this is that that has been huge for us I mean experiencing expo like expo west east expo east summer fancy winter fancy all of these shows that are more like marketing based um uh chosen really kind of like keep help help me keep an eye out for shows that will have a a greater ROI than just showing up and growing your Instagram following or I don't know, you know, it is definitely there's different reasons for different trade shows.

23:10Maria Covarrubias:And I think to your point, it's not a one size fits all. There's a few different ways of going about it, depending on what are your goals? What is your budget? What you want to accomplish in the next six months to a year, right? There's certain reasons of why. And that I think is a great piece of advice for someone who is, you know, bootstrapping, needs to be really savvy with their time, energy, investment to look for opportunities like that as a way to still be in the conversation, but make sure that they're in front of the right people at the right time. I love that. Thank you. Seriously, that's the first time this has been talked about on the podcast.

23:55Maria Covarrubias:So I love when things like that come up because I talk to a lot of founders. So I know that you have a really cool launch on your radar that I would love for you to talk about because I think it also speaks to, yes, you have your four SKUs, you're growing, you're consistently growing, but it also sounds like you are adding to your product mix in a clever way. And I would love for you to talk about that upcoming launch. Absolutely. So drum roll, we are actually launching our jalapeno sauce into the Costco region of Texas. So that has been probably almost two years in the works, which is extremely exciting to have this.

24:49It's a very big deal for a brand like ours. And I've seen just the growth that happens when this comes about. And again, being so mindful of our dollars and where the investment's going. So we're launching a double the size bottle a club a club size jalapeno to be launched at Costco and again the buyer there just like went crazy in love with our with the texture and the experience of of the sauce and they were between the habanero and the jalapeno and they thought that the spice or the cake of the jalapeno would be a great fit for the texas market so we are actually um going to the grand opening they're opening the largest i think it's the largest warehouse in the u.s in midland texas and the buyers like please like can i just have like can we do a pre-launch to so i can have it in this brand new warehouse and i'm like yes we'll you know we will make it happen and just the whole process behind getting the bottles to match our smaller bottles.

26:06It's been a crazy journey, but again, when it's meant to be, I highly believe in the universe that everything aligns and it is at the right time. It has been so incredible to see everything unfold in the right way and we just cannot be more thrilled to for this launch so it'll launch so we're gonna be showcasing um jalapeno at this brand new warehouse um that's um well it will be ignorated july 10th and the launch for the rest of the stores will be beginning of August. Incredible.

26:50Maria Covarrubias:Congratulations. That is a big deal. And I love how it's very strategic at the same time. It's one SKU. It's a larger bottle. It's at Costco. It's in a very specific area. And so it absolutely ties in with the story of how you are building. And so congratulations. That's a big deal. What is the vision long term for the brand? So it is something kind of like funny and it's like an inside joke now because I want C &T this to be a heritage brand that brings cultural diversity in food and unique products like our sauces for generations. You know, I have a daughter now and also big news. I'm pregnant.

27:41Maria Covarrubias:Yay! Also working on that. Yes. Working on that. on the family side. So I really want this to be something that goes down generations. And, you know, to continue that, that kind of like heartfelt products that, that come to add more to your household. I love that. And something I was going, I know you already touched upon distribution shows as a big play. But I would love to hear your advice on being a mom and a founder and also having a baby and another kid at home. How are you doing all of this? Because I know that so many founders struggle of just wrapping their head around that this is possible.

28:32Maria Covarrubias:And I think you're such a great example. Do you have any advice or something to share with someone who is balancing all this or going to be getting into this? Absolutely. I, I feel like, I don't know, it is it is something kind of like that probably mother entrepreneur mothers can identify with but um you just have to kind of like try to balance the act and um and be mindful of time and um because i i when i left chosen when i left my corporate job to fully that like go head first on to cn chiles because there was a little bit of an overlap um it really it really helped me value my time you know to to set time for certain things and and you know like try to not talk because also I'm married to you know my my husband and I work together so that right that's another layer another layer of being like okay let's not let's try not to talk about work when our daughter's around um things like that where you start I'm like, create some boundaries.

29:51It is hard. I'm not gonna lie, like some days is tougher than others. Sure. Especially like now with a second kid coming, God knows what will be, you know, I, I have no clue. But what I am like, I've always been a very positive person. And I feel like setting your mind first to succeed and keep moving forward, you know, regardless of, of the outside noise has been helpful to me. I've always kept a very positive mindset. And even, you know, my husband's very realistic, is very like, feet on the ground, like this, that, like the reality of things. And I'm like, No, no, no, it's gonna be great. You know, so so that has been, I feel like the balance and setting boundaries, boundaries for yourself on, you know, make sure you have time with friends and make sure you, you know, keep your, your mental state stable and positive.

30:54And it is definitely a lot to juggle. And I honestly, like, I cannot, like, stretch enough, like how much, how thankful I am for having my husband to help me with, with the whole, like, back of the house operations and all these things that his brain is so much better than mine for all these things so I'm also grateful that I can be creative and make recipes and create content and edit things and and just be out there and right he's he's back here you know and that's also a huge piece of advice for someone who's starting a business make sure you have people you know make sure you have people to write you like to help you with the with the things you can't do as well um so that's like we both know our strengths and i know where i'm i excel and i know where i don't so that has also been like that's your swimming lane so right sure like yeah we're not spending there okay great so perfect um so yeah

31:58Maria Covarrubias:that's a great piece of advice and i think that many founders especially in the really early stages need that reminder because you could put a lot of pressure on yourself that you need to do it all yourself and you have to figure it out all by yourself. And like that grind makes you a real entrepreneur. I used to have that story in my head too. But I think what you're touching upon is knowing your lane, knowing your strengths and surrounding yourself with the right people to help you succeed in doing what you do best. And that's a fabulous piece of advice. Before I let you go, the last question I have is where can people shop all of your incredible sauces?

32:40Oh my gosh. That's my favorite question. So we're available. You can order online straight from our website um amazon we have i think a couple listings on amazon for the three pack of the sauces um and we have a great tool on our website that you can do a store locator near you oh great so yeah if you go to cnchiles.com um and like find a store you can find the location closest to you and you know it's on the on your on the tip of your fingers on your mobile device um and we always have you know promos going on um and yeah so you can find us at Whole Foods both in Southern California and Texas um and yeah we have we have a few amazing retail partners in 19 different states.

33:43Maria Covarrubias:Incredible. I hope you find them close to you. Otherwise, reach out. And if you have a favorite retailer that you think we should be on, that's always helpful. Amazing. Well, congratulations on new baby coming, business growth, doing all the things that you're doing. Congratulations. And I can't wait to see you continue to succeed. Thank you so much, Kelly. Thank you for having me. And it's been such a pleasure. My pleasure. Thank you everyone for listening and I'll see you on the next episode. This episode of the Emerging Brands podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Hummingbirds. Hummingbirds is a platform that connects everyday small creators with brands to drive user-generated content, build buzz at specific retailers, and capture competitive market share.

34:36Maria Covarrubias:It's a tool that I recommend to all of my clients and one you should absolutely check out. Head to hummingbirds.com for all the details. If you're new here, hi, I'm Kelly Bennett, a Brooklyn-based brand strategist working with first-time CPG food and beverage founders. I have a front row seat of what makes an emerging CPG brand stand out because you're not just building a product, you are building a brand. And you want to make sure that is one that consumers love and retailers remember. That's where I come in. I've recently advised brands like Frankly Good Coffee, She's the Sauce, a new non-alcoholic cocktail line that's coming to market soon, and a hormone-conscious deodorant because food adjacent brands count too.