Hey all. Given the success of the previous post, here’s the next one.
I spoke with Erick Vera Bazan, originally from Peru, who left a long insurance career to start a quinoa-based baby food brand. His journey stood out because it combined family roots, strong validation, and creative marketing. Happy reading! :
MVPs can be home-brewed
– Erick’s family grew quinoa on their land.
– They experimented with homemade purees (quinoa + avocado, pineapple, etc.).
– They handed out samples at a community event in Lima.
Parents loved it immediately, which validated there was real demand.
Takeaway: You don’t always need labs or factories to test an idea a kitchen and a local event can work.
Quality and supply chain as a differentiator
– Most baby food brands use only 1–2% quinoa in recipes.
– Erick controlled the supply chain from seed to shelf and kept quinoa as a main ingredient.
– He partnered with European scientists and manufacturers to meet strict regulations.
Takeaway: In CPG, owning your raw ingredient and making it central to the product can be a real edge.
Building trust with parents
– Instead of big ad spends, he recruited mom influencers as ambassadors.
– Sent them free samples, asked for honest reviews, encouraged each to invite 5 more parents.
– Added personal touches like handwritten notes and gifts from Peru.
Result: Authentic word-of-mouth content (babies on Instagram eating the puree) that felt real.
Takeaway: Personal touches beat polished ads when building credibility.
Amazon is its own game
– Treated Amazon like a search engine.
– Bid on specific keywords like “organic baby food” and adjusted bids during peak parent browsing times.
– Encouraged reviews early to climb rankings.
– Used external traffic from mom groups to boost Amazon’s algorithm.
Today, each SKU has 100+ reviews and ranks top 10 in its category.
Takeaway: Success on Amazon = keyword strategy + timing + reviews + outside traffic.
Marketing stack
– PR agency pitched them to parenting magazines.
– Instagram ambassadors + ads near Whole Foods launch = strong offline/online loop.
– Amazon discounts + mom networks drove review spikes.
– Also selling via Shopify, Instagram Shopping, and now TikTok.
Takeaway: Layering channels creates compounding credibility.
The toughest phase: funding and survival
– After finishing an MBA in the UK, Erick had a visa but less than £1,000 in savings.
– He couch-surfed, worked with unpaid interns, and pushed forward despite nearly giving up.
– A Peruvian investor (personal contact) reached out after seeing his posts, flew to London, and invested.
Takeaway: Relationships you’ve built over years can unexpectedly fund your dream.
The biggest lesson from Erick’s story: perseverance + smart grassroots marketing can push even a scrappy founder into big retail and Amazon success. Starting with homemade pouches in Lima and ending up on Whole Foods shelves is a crazy arc but it shows the power of validation, authenticity, and grit.
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