Latest / Glovisor Podcast / Ep. 3: From Nostalgia to Nationwide: The Tres Leches Revolution - Tania Marrero Gonzalez
Transcript
- Joe Abreu: What does it really take to have a food idea and distribute it nationwide to grocery stores everywhere? Our episode's guest today will be sharing her journey. Glovisor welcomes Vlania's Tres Leches en Pasteleria founder Tania Marrero Gonzalez. Tania Marrero Gonzalez: Hi, Joe. Thank you so much for the introduction and the welcome to your Glovisor Joe Abreu: Welcome. We're so excited to have you. So tell us, what do you do? Tania Marrero Gonzalez: Yeah, so it's, am of course, like you mentioned, the founder of Vlanias Tres Leches and Pasteleria. Also, have a DBA under my LLC, which is Vlanias Panaderia. It's going to be like the retail space for ⁓ the products in bakery items that we will be producing ⁓ and to consumer. But ⁓ our main product ⁓ Tres Leches Our Tres Leches cakes are very authentic. They follow the 1940 recipe and we have over 30 flavors. So we give a modern touch to the bakery and It is inspired in a Hispanic bakery setting, you will. Joe Abreu: 30 different you said flavors Tania Marrero Gonzalez: Yes, correct. 30 different flavors. So how it came to 30 different flavors? It's part of the Brown story. So I'll begin with that. You know, I was raised and born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. In my family, for all celebrations, we have a tres leches cake being like the centerpiece of our celebrations. But then when I turned 23, I moved to the United States. and tres leches was not available. It was not like, I'll go to the this today and get me a tres leches It was not like that. So I miss that tradition. I was living in Colorado and moved to Florida, and even so in Florida, it still not as accessible. In any I took it myself to learn the recipe and I made it for my family. And then one ⁓ I order a chocolate tres leches cake. I thought it was going to be this chocolate indulging experience. ⁓ because the milk mixture was so intense that it really tasted like a regular tres leches and I was just like the biggest disappointment. And I said, I'm going to create a flavor and I will make sure that that flavor profile, it's the one that people taste. So doesn't get lost in the milk mixture because mine, the Tres Leches Cake, it has this middle mixture of condensed milk, whole milk, evaporated milk. it's a lot of flavors in this cake. So ⁓ of that, you have to engineer how you want to balance the recipe to make sure that ⁓ shows that the flavor that you say it is, you will taste it. if that makes sense. So that's how the 30 flavors came to me. The 30, I just became crazy with one flavor as to the other, and then I felt like I'm an expert in creating flavors for my dress like chess games. So that's why the 30 flavors. Funny enough, since we're talking a little bit about the Brown story, a little bit about myself, is that I have a... Joe Abreu: Sure. Tania Marrero Gonzalez: bachelor's degree in psychology and mental health and then a master's in counseling and human services. I love baking and I like switch my career to you know, entrepreneurship journey. And fast forward, ⁓ have the LLC, Vlania's Tres Leches and Pasteleria with the Tres Leches cake that are story product. of our company. Joe Abreu: So, you know, so one thing is that I find very interesting and we want to know is the Puerto Rican has a lot of yummy treats. Why did you pick the Tres Leches cake? Tania Marrero Gonzalez: Correct, it's true. It has a yummy treat. I even have people ask me like, I'm wondering why you don't sell flan? Well, you know, I can tell you this. Based on my experiences past two years, more specifically, being out there and improving the recipe and getting to know my customer is that Tris leches brings something that other desserts doesn't bring, and that is nostalgia. It attached to ⁓ a memory, a very emotional memory. And if it is, because you like I mentioned before, Tres Leches, it's not only Puerto Rican, it's actually Hispanic. ⁓ It originated when condensed milk ⁓ became a and canned goods became a thing ⁓ and recipes printed ⁓ on the And then it popularized in Nicaragua. And from there, it was a hit. So, but, know, it a memory regardless of like the country, the nationality, ⁓ and here, the Anglo ⁓ customers, there's always a memory. ⁓ A of, ⁓ I remember when I went to Mexico for my vacations ⁓ and tried Tres Leches for the first time. It was just delicious. And the excitement that they see when they recognize Tres Leches, because Tres Leches is a... Spanish term but somehow someway you know they they know what it is because again it's just that nostalgia which I saw that as an opportunity to add a story emotional storytelling to the brand. This is a well-established brand well structure and I started tapping into those stories and the mascot for for the company, which is Vlania. She is Vlania. And with it, I actually just, am currently working on the illustration for the first children's book. through her, I'm going to share those memories, those, that nostalgia, that evoke in many cultures, many people that I, and even like through generations. Cause I thought at the beginning, my generation, my customer was going to be millennials, Gen Z, Alpha, but no, it's like even beyond that. Boomers, I have boomers who look for my products, Xers, everybody and their mother. So that, you know, those two years really solidify that definitely Tres Leches is the and the star product of Vlanias Tres Leches and Pasteleria. ⁓ Joe Abreu: Wow. That's great. So, you know, I love this story, but before we move on to the business side, can you describe for listeners a little bit of the brand of the Vlania? What, you know, like a little bit more of the physical characteristics and and also I know that your colors, I mean, you've chosen colors to be consistent through all your brands. So can you describe that a little more? Tania Marrero Gonzalez: Absolutely. So brand has transformed these past two years. We have gone through two rebranding and initially cartoon was more simple, bold lines, but then eventually turned into this chibi style Japanese anime cartoon that actually evokes and speak to younger generations because Japanese animation is very popular nowadays. Not only in the United States, but all over the world. So she the main character. And when we were out there in the just sharing Tres Leches cake, had customers who walked to the tent. because of the story behind, of the colors. Purple was picked organically because when the first company that did the rebranding, when they presented color palette, purple stand out. And then I always joke because in my family, my mom, my cousin, and my sister were the ones obsessed with purple. I am, I was not that person, but then with my brand, I slowly became obsessed with purple and look at my hair. I think it's obvious. Every time I go, just, I am the personification of my brand because I love it so much. And I think that also out there, there's not many companies out there that ⁓ purple as their main primary color. And there's, and all the people that I met who love purple is an obsession. Joe Abreu: Hahaha Tania Marrero Gonzalez: So when they go to me, it's like a magnet. They just like around the color. ⁓ I just combine, you know, the mascot, the colors, then, thought, well, you know, a modern bakery. Modern bakery inspired in ⁓ more my Panaderia is how we call it in Spanish. ⁓ La Panaderia in my hometown in Ponce because the panaderias over there, ⁓ not a place to buy goods, baked goods and sandwiches and all that. It was a place for community to sit down and talk about today's topics. From politics to ⁓ el and all the chisme that ⁓ was around. at the time, will eat, you know, your ⁓ Tando y Pastrami and then sandwich, jamón y queso, with your cafe, your coffee. And it was just like this very community experience. So I slowly shaped the brand to be that modern boutique bakery inspired in Hispanic roots with the intention of offering regional items that people can find in specific locations. For example, the two sandwiches that I'm going to offer through Vlanias Panaderia. from Rico, but more specifically, the recipe ⁓ from Ponce. ⁓ The Cuban sandwich is going to be Tampa style, which includes ⁓ And the tres leches cake, it's inspired, like I mentioned before, in the ⁓ original recipe back from Nicaragua. So but surely you have this brand who celebrate cultures, who celebrate multiple identities, multi-bilingual, open the community, invite the community to get adventures, explore, to look beyond just something so unique. that you cannot be found anywhere. So it's a brand with different layers. And then the emotional storytelling, with Vlania as the mascot, and her little buddy, the cookie frog, the is Sayin. And both together, they will embark in adventures. Joe Abreu: Bye. I it. I love it. Because I think the branding is very important. As you said, I think it attracts people. And I think when it's consistent, because that's one thing, where you have different branding, it doesn't work as well. But ⁓ you've done is you've done the color, you've done consistently all across the board, so it looks fantastic. OK, going back to your top major products. So when you were ready to get the Tres Leches cake out there, you're thinking, my dream is to get it out to the world. We want the whole world to eat this. So did you do research ⁓ as if there were other cakes out in the same space where they're being sold? What kind of research went into this? Tania Marrero Gonzalez: yeah, absolutely. So I love immersion. So anytime that I go to ⁓ place that I find they sell Tres Leches I buy it, I experience it and you know, go from there. The two years at the local markets, I receive data from, what I call pastelitos, my customers, ⁓ they define, okay, what is so great about Tres Leches that I cannot find in somewhere else. And let me tell you, people love tres leches and are very familiar with tres leches. They're very particular about their tres leches. if ⁓ doesn't taste like my abuela, then this is not a good tres leches. ⁓ it doesn't taste like the restaurant that I go to, then this is not a good tres leches. And I was like up for the challenge. I was like, you know, ⁓ let me give you ⁓ a sample, you know, if you don't like it, that's fine. Joe Abreu: Yeah. Tania Marrero Gonzalez: And lo and behold, it was a hit and people love it. And the fact that I get to mention that, I have over 30 flavors and I tried to rotate them and what have you. And one of the things that they mentioned was, ⁓ it's not sweet. It's not overly sweet. They feel like they can eat it completely. The frosting, it has a ⁓ texture, velvety texture. And this is something that I don't mention a lot, but I actually have the recipe for my traditional Abuelas classic. That's the name of the traditional flavor. have it in vegan, gluten-free, lactose-free, dairy-free, keto, sugar-free. So I have, I perfect, yes, I have those recipes as well. ⁓ So not so much about, you know, ⁓ looking at tres leches and just assume, oh, you know, I know what it's this like, Vlania, just give you the opportunity to indulge in a new version of this beloved dessert. So that's how I got the opportunity to improve and get to know the tres leches at the market. At the same time, I did my research in with the business plan that Prospera USA paid for gave that ⁓ Tres Leches a dessert that is not, many people have experimented with it. And because of that, ⁓ into the niche of Tres Leches and Pasteleria. ⁓ You do a Google search it's very hard to find places that you can feel confident to say, I'm going to buy a tres leches, a pistachio tres leches. You will not find it. You'll probably have to travel hours or fly another state. But even so, it's just one location in the middle of like, in a corner of like States. ⁓ and then crumble offer tres leches that have a it's part of the rotation. Joe Abreu: Sure. Tania Marrero Gonzalez: and they have three flavors. But their tres leches, and I love crumble, don't get me wrong, but their tres leches is more commercial. They use cake mixes. one thing about the tres leches, the cake sponge, is that it's very dry ⁓ they to soak all that liquid. But when you a cake mix that has ⁓ oil and butter, it's ⁓ just different. It absorb. as well. It's just the whole thing. I, you know, about learning the art of this very specific dessert, tres leches is very which ⁓ makes it more special, if you know what I mean. So yes, that's how I kind of like navigated and researched on this tres leches cake. I naturally ⁓ am a ⁓ researcher, I love to get data, qualitative, quantitative, and it just gave everything organically. I put it in this structure, in this company, in this brand, and is, you know, it is the result of all that. Joe Abreu: Got it. Excellent. So if I went to my local grocery store, regardless of where you are, would I be able to find Tres Leches cake there today? Tania Marrero Gonzalez: you might not. You really have to know which store has it available. Joe Abreu: So not every state has this, not every store has it. Okay. Tania Marrero Gonzalez: No, no. ⁓ yeah, on top of my head, yes, there was one big store, and they became very adventurous with the flavors of the tux leches. But maybe they offer like three, four flavors, but the problem that they have, in my opinion, is that ⁓ flavor profile. just not, you will try and it's just like, ⁓ it's just, you know. it doesn't taste like what it says it does. But yeah, no, at least in Florida, but then in other states, I'm pretty sure it's the same because Florida is very, it has a large community of Hispanics. And even being here, my experience is. It's not like I can walk out and it and ⁓ a hundred percent guarantee it's going to be there waiting for me. It's not like that. So I ⁓ doubt that other states will have that accessibility, if you will. Joe Abreu: Got it. So that sounds like you're probably going to, in your research and where you're going to be selling, there's also demand driven decisions of, you know, of the specific population that may demand it more than others until it gets, you know, more mainstream, I guess. ⁓ So are you working on that currently, like trying to figure out the demand driven, maybe places where they want to buy more of this? Tania Marrero Gonzalez: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yes, absolutely. That's part of my, ⁓ of ⁓ action that I have as I especially through wholesale partnerships. and I'm really looking forward to see the data on that. In my experience, I can tell you that, like I mentioned before, in terms of customers, if we put them in groups, I see them as generation. They perform well across generation in different cultures. And I say this because, and I'll share this very specific anecdote. I was there at the markets, I had a group of from India who actually will walk to the tent. I had a mini fridge and that's where I put the tres leches cakes. ⁓ they would just open the cake. ⁓ didn't have to ask them about, are familiar with tres leches? I had no, I mean, they just knew what they were doing. Mind India, it's another side of the world. Years passed until I went to this Indian restaurant and I saw that they had a tres leches cake in their menu and I was curious about that and I started a conversation. It turns out that India see tres leches, they know about tres leches cake and it is this luxurious experience that they may find in some like luxurious bakeries in India. So It is popular in India. They know about tres leches And that's what makes me and intuitive as well that tres leches will do really well with many markets, if that makes sense. But then again, I need to generate the data and look for it in opportunities with partnerships all across ⁓ US to see where, to solidify that. that, ⁓ perceptive data that I, that I sold this past few years. If that makes sense. Joe Abreu: now let's just say someone else ⁓ listening or watching, is of maybe producing something or selling something. ⁓ Since already in that journey with the hopes of going, distributing in major grocery store, obviously worldwide if you could, what is the process ⁓ that here's the you've the best product ever, thus far, ⁓ what do you ⁓ Can you share that as part of the journey to getting everything to, just say nationwide grocery stores? What's that process like? Tania Marrero Gonzalez: Yeah, absolutely. So once I was given the business plan, it was definitely an indicator that, OK, this company is ready to scale up. The projection of a 12-month period was $1.5 million in sales through wholesale partnerships. Before doing that, I decided to then do the DBA for Vlania Panaderia to start with the cash flow to sustain wholesale partnership. While that, I sent my ⁓ Abuelas flavor to a lab in Miami a six month frozen study. Just to have documentation. ⁓ that my treasuriers will be able to their quality regardless of how long they can stay frozen. And the max will be, ⁓ I the standard is six months for frozen ⁓ desserts. So right now are entering in month number two ⁓ where I'll the first result. But I can tell you that ⁓ the ⁓ baseline, I got the best results to start with. In the meantime, while I do that, I will engage with distributors and showcase what I've done thus far in how this product has a good velocity. When I say velocity, it's the amount of ⁓ that move per week. And also, ⁓ a good profit margin for the distributors, for the distributor which is like 40%. And that is really good and attractive. So, you in fact, already have a pitch meeting with a national distributor. And they were actually really surprised to find that in this short I was talking about structure, about systems. about quality. So this is not just, you know, something trendy, something that it's just, it's just a product that I created with it and here you are. ⁓ this is a brand that has structure, that has system, that it's built to be successful, highly customer service, where humans are placed in the center of it. ⁓ And when I say customers, it's not only my pastelitos when I ⁓ about customer, also start with me, with myself, with self care and also with my team. So to sustain that quality and customer experience in all ⁓ that entails with company, it will be consistent. And therefore my read, my, ⁓ wholesale partners will be able to experience that level of customer experience, quality, consistency, so they, at the same time, it will sustain the sales. is a product that generate loyalty. Repeat customers come back even month after to get more. So, you know, at this stage, we are ⁓ ⁓ ⁓ where we were. Joe Abreu: Okay. Tania Marrero Gonzalez: getting ready to solidify in paper, numbers, our tres leches are ready to scale up ready to ⁓ the world, if you will. Joe Abreu: Excellent. So one thing is, the laboratory results are like, that's a must, right, before you can move on to the next step. Tania Marrero Gonzalez: Mm-hmm. Absolutely, absolutely. that's why I haven't, you know, it's one thing that I can go to the distributors and retail, large retail stores and say, oh, you know, these are my tres leches, this is what I've so far and whatever, But when I have something that can show them my tres leches can be frozen for six months and they will maintain their quality, then that makes Vlanias Tres Leches is they position it in a place of trust, right? I'm going to, it makes them feel like, okay, this is a great product because I'm going to invest in it. And I can, you know, keep it six months and start making it move you know, go So definitely, ⁓ you I'm not moving forward until I get the six months, but it doesn't mean that I'm not preparing. both mentally and physically, and my employees in continuing structuring my company to prepare for that moment, for those six months when I get the okay that, hey, we're ready to scale up. It's just the companies, that's what they should do if you want to get to a national level. It's just like a checkpoint. I am in one checkpoint right now. And then the next one will be the six months. And then after that, you know, how can we make ⁓ wholesale operations? I already have a plan for that as well. ⁓ Joe Abreu: That's great. So, all right, so six months comes around, you get the amazing report, we're be optimistic, we know it's gonna be great. So then what happens? You go back to the distributors, when do you think that, you know, we can start to see that in our local markets? soon? Tania Marrero Gonzalez: So six months will be up ⁓ summer. I already have a lot of national distributor who ⁓ onboard me already ⁓ paperwork and I'll probably look into Revisiting ⁓ another business plans and the air see how much capital capital I will need to then do the wholesale operations because with wholesale operations you need to have the capability to have to move pallets, to have enough space to you know distribute, to send the product to distribution, to package them in a way that keeps them the quality and safety of the products in good shape to then you know send them to the distribution. distribution centers. ⁓ if I can project ⁓ this will happen, I'll say about a year. In the meantime, Vlaña's Tres Leches will be available through Vlaña's Panaderia locally. You know, when ⁓ say locally, where we are, where headquarters are located. And we will be building our brands and just make, work on brand. ⁓ and do or due diligence to continue to add value, perceive value to our brand and our products. So when the tres leches hit the market, people know, oh my gosh, look, there's some Vlanias tres leches here. Oh, this month they have pistachio flavor? Great! Oh, I'm wondering what they're going to have next month. So that's so far what I've envisioned. happening once we get there. So in the meantime, here we are. Joe Abreu: Excellent, so it sounds like you have the right recipe for the cake and the right recipe for the business too. So, wonderful. So you need, I think it sounds to me like you're ready to roll. So it sounds like maybe you may need to start talking to probably investors, distributors who may want to help you grow the business and to distribute this cake throughout. Is that like the right people that you need to talk to today? ⁓ Tania Marrero Gonzalez: Yes, yeah, absolutely. ⁓ absolutely, absolutely. Funding is definitely one of the pain points that the company has right now because we're starting, right? So we need to start building that, those numbers, those cells. Like so ⁓ everything been ⁓ start this is the idea, let's improve our products, we were able to solidify how good the brand is, how good the product is, now let's scale up. So, you know, we will use Vlania's Panadería to prove to the investors and people, financial institutions out there, that what we've seen the past two years, it's going to materialize, will become... true and is why we need you and need us to make this dream a reality. United States in general, I think we ⁓ are in period in time ⁓ where we're and then in craving multicultural items, multicultural experiences. ⁓ Joe Abreu: Absolutely. I think we're looking for something different all the time. ⁓ Just, you know, the same, the same, and the same. You know, we just need something. Sometimes we just need something different. Sometimes we need to go back to our grandma's recipe, obviously. But, you know, for those of us who didn't have that grandma who made that kind of cake, we need something different. So it's pretty exciting. So all right. So is it. This is the time to really talk to Tania now before she's in 2000 stores. And then it'll be too expensive to talk to her. So Tania Marrero Gonzalez: Yes. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm Exactly. This is your time. ⁓ Joe Abreu: Gotta do it today. So Tania, tell us if wants to talk to you, someone wants to talk to you about investment, someone wants to say, hey, you know, I want to meet with you so I can try this cake. Where can they go to find out more? Tania Marrero Gonzalez: absolutely. So we are present in social media. All of our handles are at Vlania's Tres Leches And then we have our website, www.vlaniastresleches.com. ⁓ And we have our email address, is Vlania at Vlaniastressleches.com. Joe Abreu: Excellent. All right. This is the time to talk to her today Let's not wait any time before she's in those 2,000 stores and you know We're walking down the aisle and we get to see the tres leches cake. We'll remember this podcast We'll remember this episode for sure. All right, Tania Thank you so much for being here today we wish you the best and forward to seeing you at the next store Tania Marrero Gonzalez: I appreciate it. All right, well thank you, Joe, for the opportunity.