Molinos de la Especia is a woman-founded and run startup in Cebu, Philippines that manufactures and sells premium specialty spices. Some quick facts:

• Bootstrapped for 8 years
• On a mission to provide access to A World of Flavor for Every Filipino, Every Day
• Significant traction (100s of major clients, 10,000s of end customers)
• Expanding rapidly to meet demand
• Raising a seed round to expand properly
• Crowdfunding will boost raise round, improve credit and investor awareness
• Funding to be used for cash heavy inventory purchases, along with operations expansion

I’m Casey, their American advisor (and biggest fan).

To make this fun, we created the #XmasCutenessOverload campaign to make this simple: 

TLDR: You help fund our expansion and we give you cute, miniature versions of our products as a token of our appreciation. 

Molinos’ six most Christmas-y spices, overloaded with cuteness as miniatures.

Roughly 2×3.5″ (credit card size) and contains about 5g of spices.

Not intended for consumption.

Background

Life in the Philippines is hard as it’s “one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.“

Building a business is even harder.

I’ve seen first-hand how deeply resilient the Filipino people are. In a land full of survivors, one is inspiring me and her community to thrive: Paula, the woman I’m fortunate to call my partner, in more ways than one.

A good business builds people. It builds communities. It builds nations.

For the last two years I’ve been helping this awesome team of Filipinas grow their business and now I need your help taking them to the next level.

Short Summary

Paula Garcia started Molinos 8 years ago when her father was battling cancer and needed to improve his diet. She wanted to make him more nutritious, more delicious meals, but could not find spices other than black pepper and bay leaves in her hometown of Cebu City, Philippines

Getting access to quality food ingredients like spices is a real and serious problem for tens of millions of Filipinos. Since inception Molinos has been working hard to solve a frustrating logistics problem in the Philippines:

Only some Filipinos have access to some spices on some days.

An all too common display of mixed or mystery quality at local markets across the Philippines

The Molinos mission is to provide access to
A World of Flavor for Every Filipino, Every Day.

The Molinos sales team at the Carcar Public Market

The Molinos de la Especia story in a nutshell

• Woman-founded and managed (and all moms!)
• A fully vertical company that imports, manufactures and sells premium specialty spices.
  • (Molinos does not yet contract or farm spices locally, but that’s a future possibility) 
• Bootstrapped organically and now scaling up intentionally
• Shut down during COVID and restarted in 2021 with $350
• Survived a (real) super typhoon, a (real) pandemic and recently a (fake, but real funny) Cuteness Overload Incident.

The flagship Molinos brand of premium specialty spices prior to the pandemic shutdown

Molinos has already accomplished a lot:

• Launched two successful product lines:
  • The Molinos flagship brand of premium specialty spices for hotels and restaurants
  • The Mama Shai retail consumer brand for everyday Filipino cooking
• Currently completing second accelerator
• Doubled in size in 2022 and again in 2023

Some of the 64 colorful newly revitalized labels as displayed in their accelerator pitch deck 

In 2024 Molinos is revitalizing and expanding their flagship product line which has been hibernating since the COVID shut down. 

The Molinos HRI Expansion plan is as follows:

• 64 SKU varieties of premium specialty spices, herbs and mixes
  • Since the pandemic there are 12 SKUs, prior to COVID over 100. 
  • After talking to customers, 64 is a balanced and focused amount
  • No other competitor can match the variety, price, quality or stocks-on-hand
     
• All new and upgraded packaging, sizes and pricing
  • Focused on 1kg ‘Big Packs’ to start, at or below competitor prices.
  • Quality foil packaging is necessary for a consistent quality product, especially in such a humid environment.
  • Paula designs all packaging and labels herself.
     
• An upgrade to bulk, seasonal purchasing to ensure stocks on hand
  • Currently buy monthly in small quantities on demand from local importers
  • Buying bi-annually near harvest will dramatically improve cost and quality
     
• All new overseas suppliers, closer to the source.
  • Have lined up trusted vendors from half a dozen countries all over the world
  • Cutting out local importers cuts cost, improves quality and paper trail
     
• Initial focus only on Hotel, Restaurant and Industry (HRI) clients
  • Tourism is very big in the Philippines and has now recovered since pandemic
  • Molinos has a pre-existing client base that are now back in business
  • Demand is enormous, Molinos is turning away orders they cannot fulfill.
  • There are other market segments to grow in but HRI is the foundation of the company.
     
• Next 12-24 months focusing on growth and saturation in the Central Visayas region
  • There is plenty of growth to be captured at home before expanding nationwide
  • Molinos will be taking that time to mature their processes and implement and ERP
  • Major markets in Luzon, Mindanao and resort regions will follow.

What We Need & What You Get

We need $1M for the next two years of growth and we are hoping to crowdfund the first $100k here. With the money, Molinos can implement these priorities in order:

1. Import full containers of inventory
   1. Molinos can operate with their current equipment and infrastructure, so the priority for money raised is to generate more revenue by buying inventory.

      For example, Molinos just ordered about 5 tons of 3 of their most in demand SKUs (Sweet Paprika, Smoked Paprika and Cayenne Pepper) for about $10k. That will last about 3-6 months, depending on demand and execution. Since it takes at least a month to ship from overseas, more will need to be ordered months before the new stock is sold out, and with full cash payment up front. It will need to be a larger order than the most recent one as the company will continue to grow. Now they need to do that for all 64 SKUs for the next 2 years of rapid growth.

      Revenue from sales is an important part of the bootstrap capital-replenishment cycle, but it is much more possible with an initial nest egg. Getting a large, next-level amount of inventory will create a large, next-level amount of sales.
       

2. A cash buffer to weather long cash-flow cycles
   1. The past three years of growth has been built in the retail consumer market, which has long and unpredictable cash-flow cycles.
   2. All profits have been put right back into inventory purchases, creating additional stress and stymied growth.
       
3. Add Infrastructure with shelving and technology
   1. Much of the company has been built on old or second-hand cars, computers and equipment.
   2. Proper industrial scale racking, machines and technology will dramatically improve productivity
       
4. Implement a full ERP
   1. Like many Filipino businesses, many of Molinos’ internal processes are paper based.
   2. Molinos has started integrating the Odoo ERP and with proper resources (computers and training) they should be able to fully implement in 2024
       
5. Fan base in US
   We have a US corporation and plans for future US expansion. This campaign will start laying the foundations for that expansion a few years from now. The US is also very entrepreneurial. A fan base could potentially provide emotional and mental support during any tough days ahead. 🙂

    

6. Attention from larger angel investors and VCs.
   Not a lot of international investors are looking at cities like Cebu. This campaign could potentially catch the attention of the dozen or so critical partners out there in the world, who didn’t yet know they were looking for Molinos. 🙂
    

​What you get:

• Contribute $10 and become a ‘Pen Pal’
  • Satisfaction from building a business half-way around the world.
    It may sound silly, but I can speak from experience, helping someone succeed is incredibly gratifying
  • Receive a thank you watercolor postcard from Molinos.
    Paula is quite the artist IMHO and she will be creating a new water color just for this campaign. 

Example artwork created by Paula. New artwork TBD

• Contribute $20 and become a ‘Cuteness Contributor’
  • Everything from ‘Pen Pal’ above
  • Select 1 of the 5 standard #XmasCutenessOverload miniatures
    Packaged in Cebu and filled with about 5g our real spices
    (All Spice, Cinnamon, Cloves, Nutmeg or Star Anise)

​

Vanilla Bean only available in ‘Cuteness Collector’ perk*

• Contribute $100 and become a ‘Cuteness Collector’
  • Everything from ‘Cuteness Contributor’ above
    Get all 5 standard miniatures
  • Get the 6th miniature, Vanilla Bean
     
• Contribute $200 and become a ‘Cuteness Campaigner’
  • Everything from the ‘Cuteness Collector’ above
  • Double it and Molinos will optionally send it to a friend!
     
• Contribute $500 and become a ‘Cuteness Connoisseur’
  • Everything from ‘Cuteness Campaigner’ above
  • The rare Molinos 8 spice gift box
    Molinos has not yet sold these; only distributed at high profile events.
    Actual spices TBD

Paula with the Molinos gift box party favor at a modern Filipiniana wedding

​

• Contribute $1000 and become a ‘Cuteness Overload Overlord’
  • Everything from ‘Cuteness Connoisseur’ above
  • Double it and Molinos will optionally send it to a friend!
  • You just want to make a big impact. You’ve been to the Philippines and know exactly what we’re talking about. Or you just want support a scrappy startup founder. Or you’ve always wanted to help buy a literal ton of spices.

The Impact

The always cheery, intrepid and hard-working Molinos production staff

The Philippines is a rapidly developing nation in South East Asia. Much of that growth is centered in the northern Luzon region around the capital Manila.

Molinos is in Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the country. Access to education, skills training and opportunities are limited.

Your contribution will have a tremendous and direct impact on the people of Molinos. In the two short years I have been advising the company, I have seen people’s lives dramatically upgrade in real time.

Molinos employs nearly 40 people and the nearly 100 people in their families. Molinos is focused on skills training for English speaking, computer and operational systems. As Molinos grows (and has already grown) it offers career opportunities and advancement not otherwise available to many of its employees (some of them who came to us from the literal bundók

Your contribution will also help Molinos leap ahead in their financing plans. Business financing is challenging and much more expensive than in America, especially at the current sales volume, so it is difficult to leap ahead. Any credit available is limited and expensive, typically in the the 18-24% APR range, and as high as 36% or more. Most banks demand land collateral for projects, which keeps many businesses from scaling up.

Your dollars will give Molinos a tremendous boost to reach the next level of their business.

Risks & Challenges

Molinos has already been in business for 8 years and produces 1000s of retail spice packs a day. Prior to the pandemic Molinos has 100s of local HRI customers who are now ready to start buying from Molinos again. Molinos has nearly all the infrastructure set up, they just need the initial financing to revitalize their 64 specialty spices at the appropriate scale to meet demand.

Risks & Challenges for HRI Expansion:

• Competition: Molinos has a number of competitors, each carrying a limited amount of stocks and SKUs. The big distributors carry McCormick spices, but again, stocks are routinely limited, which is why customers like Molinos in the first place. It is unlikely a new competitor will surface in the next two years and the speed and efficiency of Molinos which is already on the ground and running.

  This is mitigated through execution and being competitive in price, variety, quality, stocking and service.
   

• Skills Training: As Molinos scales, new skills will need to be acquired by the current team. This is a challenge for any business, but especially so for businesses without a culture of advancement. Employees will also have to do their normal job as it currently is and then learn a new way of doing it.

  This is mitigated through culture and support. I can vouch that when I was there in person, they already adopted lean and agile manufacturing and software project management practices. Management will need to continue to encourage a culture of self-improvement. Further resources like classes, consultants and other training can help upgrade critical skills.
   

• Scaling Up: Any problem at large logistical scales is much more complex than at small scales. Any error at a large scale can be much more catastrophic than at small scales.

  This is mitigated by scaling up purposefully. The focus is on vertical growth in the region first, then horizontal growth nationwide. Moving to a cloud based ERP like Odoo will help create a digital core to the company that will provide the necessary scaffolding to track the production and sales cycles.
   

• Lack of Demand: Molinos might be misunderstanding the demand and suddenly might hit a ceiling. This seems unlikely given their current information, but it is worth mentioning.

  This is mitigated by first implementing more marketing support to generate new sales and capture more from the market. Once the local market is truly saturated, then it would be time to scale horizontally, perhaps sooner than expected if demand is lower than anticipated.
   

• Supply Chain Issues: Importing into the Philippines is notoriously difficult. Once the material is imported, it is even more difficult to distribute it around the archipelago and to the last mile to the customers. 

  This is mitigated with years of experience and relationships with government customs, focus on local distribution and buying months of stocks in advance.

In fact, the miniatures are actually the riskiest part of this whole endeavor. Supposing gigantic success, Molinos will have no problem creating 10k miniatures in Q1. They have the labor, materials and experience creating lots of packs. They’ve never shipped anything in the US before though, so they still need to solve how to efficiently ship all the miniatures cheaply and effectively.

Most likely one giant package will be shipped to a partner in the US which will then ship all the smaller packages domestically.

We unfortunately thought of this idea too late to get these delivered before Christmas 2023. Depending on demand, they will most likely be delivered by end of Q1 2024.

Other Ways You Can Help

Tell your friends! Did you get inspired or giggle at our silly video? Help evangelize our mission to provide access to A World of Flavor for Every Filipino, Every Day. 
 

Salamat and Seasonings Greetings!

“Boss” Casey Driscoll
(currently recovering from a cuteness coma)
         ~ on behalf of ~
Paula Garcia, Founder and CEO​