Building a Mexican Chili Crisp Brand from Scratch with Alejandro Quintero Corral of Mucha Macha
LISTEN ON: APPLE | SPOTIFY
Alejandro Quintero grew up near the Pacific coast of Mexico, where oil-based chili sauces are a staple at every meal. When he moved to the States, he couldn't find the version he remembered. So he made it himself. That recipe became Mucha Macha, a Mexican-style chili crisp that is nutty, crunchy, a little sweet, and has just the right amount of spice.
In this episode, Alejandro talks about leaving a career in finance and consulting to build a food brand, why community was the thing that pushed him to actually start, and how he is anchoring his entire launch around the Summer Fancy Food Show.
Subscribe to the Food Means Business Podcast with Hudson Kitchen founder Djenaba Johnson-Jones to hear the personal stories and "secret ingredients" of abandoning your day job and starting a CPG food business.
Tune in to hear...
How a Hudson Kitchen networking event gave him his first outside validation
What it felt like to step into a commercial kitchen for the first time
The operations session that changed how he thinks about running a real food business
His launch strategy: direct-to-consumer, Amazon, and building toward retail
Why taking the first step matters more than having all the answers
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About Alejandro Quintero Corral
Originally from the West Coast of Mexico, Alejandro grew up eating fish tacos and some of the best seafood in the world. With 7 years in finance and consulting, building Mucha Macha marks his first serious venture into entrepreneurship. He started the brand to share part of his identity, something he is genuinely proud of and passionate about. He is building Mucha Macha alongside his wife Nicole.
Connect with Alejandro and Mucha Macha:
Visit the Mucha Macha website
Follow Mucha Macha on Instagram
Connect with Alejandro on LinkedIn
Stay Connected with Djenaba Johnson-Jones:
Visit Hudson Kitchen
Follow Hudson Kitchen on Instagram
Connect with Djenaba on LinkedIn
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Djenaba Johnson-Jones (00:01)
Hi, my name is Djenaba Johnson-Jones. I'm the founder of Hudson Kitchen and the creator of the Food Business Bootcamp and host of the Food Means Business podcast. Today I'm here with Alejandro, who is the founder of Mucha Macha. Alejandro, thank you for being here.
Alejandro Quintero (00:16)
Thanks so much and I'll have to be here.
Djenaba Johnson-Jones (00:19)
So I'd love to hear a little bit about you. We did meet when you were taking our food business boot camp that just ended last week, but give us your background. Like what were you doing before you decided to launch a food business?
Alejandro Quintero (00:29)
Yeah, great question. So about me, my background is in finance. I have like a career in finance working. I'm originally from Mexico, so started working in that. Most recently, I finished my MBA in 2023 here in the University of Virginia. Worked in consulting for a year and now based out of Jersey City. And yeah, just getting started with these.
Djenaba Johnson-Jones (00:59)
So what made you decide to start a food business? Like when did you come up with the idea?
Alejandro Quintero (01:04)
I came up with the idea last year. It was something that I've been wanting to do for a while. But it was really up until the last quarter or the last two quarters of last year when I was just thinking about it since last year started. And I was just like, it's time to see if this has any
Alejandro Quintero (01:31)
know, legs to it, started like testing the product with some friends and I, I feel like what really ignited, you know, me to actually start the business was right after like I incorporated the business. I, I joined a networking event hosted by you at Hudson Kitchen. and I feel like that was really what, you know, you know, hearing like from other people, what they thought about the product then.
Djenaba Johnson-Jones (01:51)
Yeah.
Alejandro Quintero (02:00)
I remember I brought in a couple of samples there, people liked it and I was like, okay, it seems like, I mean, it's beyond my inner circle, so people are enjoying it and that's what really set it off.
Djenaba Johnson-Jones (02:13)
Yeah, so I you know, we actually ran out in my house and my husband's asking me for more so I'll have to order some for sure So that's great. So tell us tell us about Mucha Macha like what is the product?
Alejandro Quintero (02:17)
Yeah.
Alejandro Quintero (02:25)
Yeah, so Mucha Macha, the way I describe it right now, it's a Mexican style chili crisp. The easiest way to think about it is a oil-based sauce that you can basically, you know, put on top of as a finishing sauce and top like any meal. I like the way I'm using it right now. It's just like, it's the best sauce that you know your breakfast needed. So you could pretty much put it on top of anything like from
Alejandro Quintero (02:55)
You know, eggs and toast, so... You know, your lunch burrito to like a late night ramen. It's nutty, it's crunchy, a little bit sweet with the right amount of spice.
Djenaba Johnson-Jones (03:11)
So how did you come up with the recipe? Was it something that you grew up eating or did you just something that you just kind of decided to make?
Alejandro Quintero (03:19)
I mean, so the inspiration is actually, you know, that's a great question. mean, growing up in Mexico, near the Pacific coast, I mean, it's pretty obvious to me, like the more I spend time away from home, the more I think about like, it's very typical for like any Mexican to add sauce to basically any meal in
Alejandro Quintero (03:48)
these type of sauces like not as, it's not as popular, it's not as widely known, but it goes well with like, I mean, with basically any type of dish, specifically seafood, where I'm from, it's just like something that you would find around. So when I came here to the States, like a couple of years ago, I was just like, okay, I want to have this sauce, but I just can't find the right one or like the one that I...
Alejandro Quintero (04:16)
remember having when I was growing up. So I'm just gonna make it myself. I don't know, I feel like people started to really like it whenever I brought it to friends' dinners. And that's how I started. It's basically a recipe that I developed myself.
Djenaba Johnson-Jones (04:23)
Yeah.
Djenaba Johnson-Jones (04:31)
I love that. So you took our boot camp that just ended. It was an eight week course and you were able to take that recipe and commercialize it. Talk a little bit about your experience with the boot camp. I'm curious, it's like, what was your favorite part and what kind of surprised you about kind of starting your business?
Alejandro Quintero (04:51)
Yeah, so I think what really propelled me to join the bootcamp is when I first started this business, knew that I wanted to do something for myself, but I didn't want to do it alone. I wanted to be part of something that was there to me and Nicole and my wife, you know, doing this. And I feel like having a community
Alejandro Quintero (05:21)
was really key for me to actually generate accountability and just like see what the journey is like through the lens of others as well. Sometimes when you are by yourself, you think like other people know or like more know more than you or people can figure it out by themselves. So I was just like, OK, I don't want to do it by myself. I hear like some
Alejandro Quintero (05:48)
I reach out to some references for people that have been part of the Hudson Kitchen community in the past and everyone had great references. I was just like, okay, seems like this is exactly the support I need and the community that I want to be part of to actually take it to the next level and get a reality. That's how it happened.
Djenaba Johnson-Jones (06:10)
Awesome. what, as you've, you you've been, you worked on the business for eight weeks with us, but like, was the most surprising thing that you kind of found out about yourself and starting the business?
Alejandro Quintero (06:23)
The most surprising thing. So when I came in, I feel like I had kind of been on the journey for a couple of months. So I knew a little bit about the branding. I knew a little bit about food safety, which is like the number one kind of concern that I had going in. I kind of like the part where I've spent the most in.
Djenaba Johnson-Jones (06:45)
Mm. Mm.
Alejandro Quintero (06:51)
But what I really wanted to know about was actually the day-to-day part of the operations. On the latter half of the boot camp, we had the opportunity to hear directly from real business that had been there. Shout out to Rachel from Yay's Snacks. She was amazing. It's like super detailed. I feel like that is exactly what I needed to hear.
Djenaba Johnson-Jones (07:12)
Thank
Alejandro Quintero (07:20)
how to actually handle an ongoing operation from a commercial site. For me, that was a key part. mean, other parts as well, right? With the food scientists, kind of hearing their feedback, how to scale your recipe, that was great too. But I feel like for me, that was kind of what I needed.
Djenaba Johnson-Jones (07:42)
Yeah, yeah, so it was your first time in a commercial kitchen. How was that?
Alejandro Quintero (07:48)
Oh man, I feel like the it was just like, I don't know, you've been playing around in like a kids table all your life and then when you jump into like a real kitchen, it just it felt like actually turning into a pro court like a basketball court. That's how I felt. I mean, it was scary at first, but then. I mean, it's it's I know. I don't know if every commercial kitchen is like.
Djenaba Johnson-Jones (07:56)
Yeah.
Alejandro Quintero (08:16)
like how to kitchen but I mean it's it's the setup is great so you you become really comfortable idea after a while.
Djenaba Johnson-Jones (08:23)
You guys, did pretty good, because that's the second time you produced. It was much faster. like you were able to, I think maybe Drexel Food Lab gave you some tips on some things that you could do. And you guys kind of thought through that before you got back in the kitchen. So that was good. Talk about your, what are your plans now? Like thinking about how you want to, in the next three or six months, kind of what are you looking at to do with the business? I know with the bootcamp, you'll kind of.
Alejandro Quintero (08:37)
I appreciate it.
Djenaba Johnson-Jones (08:51)
You have your recipe down, you have some packaging, and now it's kind of time to get out there and really get started and be selling. So tell us what your plans might be.
Alejandro Quintero (09:01)
Yeah, I feel like the approach I have right now is kind of anchored around the Fancy Food Show, is in the summer from June 28 to June 30. It's going to be like a first of everything, you know, being there. So I try to anchor like the next at least the next two or three months around that. So.
Alejandro Quintero (09:30)
Walking back from there, the first thing is getting the branding ready. I feel like we have a strong concept there. So really nailing down what we want the public to see. That's the first thing. Then getting started with the production from a commercial kitchen as well. We want to take it a little bit like...
Alejandro Quintero (09:56)
Slow even though we we we already went through through the through the boot camp I feel like it's about actually getting consistent production out of her out of her project And then like right before that I mean we already have our website set up so start, you know distributing through that through there But also we want to enable our Amazon channel. So we want to at least
Alejandro Quintero (10:26)
I would say best out how it goes from here until the fancy food show. That's our short-term goals. then after that, we see this as getting additional information about our product, more validation, more data points to see after that if we are able to sustain production and hopefully look for retail distributors.
Djenaba Johnson-Jones (10:47)
Yeah.
Alejandro Quintero (10:56)
and
Alejandro Quintero (10:59)
Yeah, think that, you know, it's a scary thing about but I'm getting more and more convinced that we're probably going to need financial resources. thinking, looking ahead as like potentially raising some capital to support all of this.
Djenaba Johnson-Jones (11:01)
Yeah.
Djenaba Johnson-Jones (11:16)
Yeah, that's awesome. I think you're taking the right approach to everything. And I know that boot camp was a sprint. We were going fast. like to actually slow down and think about in next two or three month chunks, I think, makes sense for the beginning, for sure. So what piece of advice do you have for someone that was in your shoes, I guess, six months ago and was thinking about getting a business started?
Alejandro Quintero (11:45)
Man, think, I mean, from a personal standpoint, I feel like I'm a very, let's say, analytical person and kind of like risk averse. So a big success metric for me is not even related to, you know, the financial outcome of the business. It's just about taking a step
Alejandro Quintero (12:14)
you know, one step like the next step, let's say like that and have fun. I mean, we spoke about this during the bootcamp, but one of my actual success metrics is like having fun with the project and actually building something. Like sometimes you can get caught up with, you know, in your own head or even like doing numbers and running metrics, but you will never know the outcome of
Alejandro Quintero (12:45)
your product if you don't start with something. So if somebody is like hesitant to actually start a business, I would advise to just take the first step and build from there. And then the other things like the analysis, the numbers can come after, but I feel like the first step is actually, you know, see if you can come up with a, at least like an MVP. I like to call it like that. That's how I
Djenaba Johnson-Jones (13:14)
Yeah. Yeah.
Alejandro Quintero (13:14)
first started when I went to Hudson Kitchen for the first time. Just like, okay, this is kind of like what I envisioned and then, you know, take the next step and then build from there and just like go for it.
Djenaba Johnson-Jones (13:27)
Yeah, that's really cool. Thank you. So Alejandro, thank you so much for being on the podcast. Tell us where we can find out about Mucha Macha and learn more about you.
Alejandro Quintero (13:35)
Yes, so we got our website. It's muchamachany.com We have some kind of like our product in there We are also on social media for like we are only in Instagram right now at @muchamacha.ny And obviously you can also reach out to me on LinkedIn or in my email So yeah, happy to have any conversations there
Djenaba Johnson-Jones (14:05)
Cool. Thank you so much.
Alejandro Quintero (14:07)
Thanks for Djenaba.