South Jersey’s Fila Manila brand strikes deal on Shark Tank

Jake Deleon isn’t new to the food business and certainly not one to shy away from the flavors of his Filipino heritage.

An entrepreneur of more than a decade, Deleon fulfilled one of his dreams for his food brand, Fila Manila, thanks to ABC’s Shark Tank. On a recent episode, the longtime fan of the show landed a deal with one of the most successful businessmen in the snack food industry, Daniel Lubetzky of Kind Granola. The deal was a $250,000 investment for a 20% stake in the company, which will help Deleon realize his brand’s full potential.

Even before his corporate career working in marketing for food companies such as Pringles and Starbucks, he and his family would prepare and sell Filipino dishes and treats as a side hustle during his childhood.

“I’ve always been in the food business. We come from an immigrant family and with most Filipino families, food is always the center of the household,” Deleon, of Laurel Springs, N.J., said. “It’s no surprise that a lot of our entrepreneurial efforts as kids or even with my parents started out with food. We just made food in our kitchen and would sell to friends and family for extra income.”

Deleon hopes Fila Manila will bring Filipino American flavors to everyone’s kitchen, with a variety of cooking sauces with exciting flavors like ube, adobo, peanut, and banana ketchup.

Upon graduating from Drexel University, Deleon went to work for Procter & Gamble where he built a tool chest of experience dealing with finance, research and development, and supply chains for the brands he worked on. His first product on his own was Origin Almond Milk, which started as a booth at the Collingswood Farmers Market and made its way into Philly-area Whole Foods and other markets.

In 2020, the pandemic hit the almond milk brand hard and Deleon needed to pivot. He looked toward his family recipes as the next stop. Not only did he have confidence in these sauces, but he knew there was a glaring lack of Filipino foods at grocery stores that he could fill.

“One of the cases I made [for Filipino food] on Shark Tank is that we’re actually the fastest growing cuisine in the U.S. right now in terms of popularity,” he said. “What’s working in our favor is that if you go to most groceries, there’s not really any Filipino representation at all.”

When Deleon received a $1,200 stimulus check in the early stages of the pandemic, he hit the ground running on Fila Manila, creating some of the brand’s first sauces.

Now, the million-dollar brand is found in stores like Target, Whole Foods, Meijers, and Stop & Shop, Deleon said. “We started the business with one store and one product line, and today we are found about 2,500 stores nationwide.”