Bioflora: Campeones de los probióticos en México

Estimated reading time: 8 Min

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Jan Landeros is the co-founding partner of Bioflora together with Dr. Valerie Katthain. His project is one of the most successful cases of e-commerce in Mexico, with two products that crown the national sales in their category in positions one and two.

A feat that is the product of the passion, professionalism and absolute dedication of this company to build a high quality product, responsible for the environment and with effective and efficient logistics. Bioflora is proof that excellence is recognized with success and that companies that also return that success to their community are the ones that have real value.

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Frank: Tell us how Bioflora was created?

Jan: The way in which we founded Bioflora was very curious because we founded it between Dr. Valerie Katthain and me. We met in a small town in Mexico where we both live, because our daughters went swimming together.

I came from the pet nutrition industry, from a very large factory that made pet supplements and sold them all over Latin America and in some parts of Europe. I left because working in a very large factory is exhausting, but before leaving, I came out with a product of my own, some probiotics for dogs.

At the factory I learned a lot and I appreciate that learning, I always had many ventures and although not all those projects succeeded, I have always felt like an entrepreneur. So when I connected with Valerie one day she told me: “I can't believe you make probiotics for dogs but not for humans”, I thought about it and we decided to start doing it.

Like Valerie, her family, is also involved in a dairy company, so we thought about distributing with them, but they told us that they couldn't distribute in glass and we had to figure that out ourselves. That's how Bioflora started.

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Frank: Are probiotics for animals similar to those for humans?

Jan: There are a lot of differences but not in manufacturing. The truth is that the process is more or less the same at the manufacturing level. So I borrowed a manual encapsulator and made my first mix in a plastic bag, as experiments are done, and we came up with a batch of one hundred products.

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Frank: Are they born as ecommerce or do they start as a physical store?

Jan: From the beginning when we were considering forming the company, about five years ago, we sat down with another friend who is a business consultant and he told us: “make your company digital”. That orders are online, that everything is as automated as possible. Because if they don't need it today, they're going to need it in five years. And that's how it was. We started in 2016 and formalized it in 2017.

We did that first period, relying on small stores here in Valle de Bravo, and then e-commerce exploded as such.

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Also read: Nuda Est, great experiences through logistics and unboxing

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Frank: It went well for them then.

Jan: Yes. In fact, two of our products rank first and second in the Mexican market. In other words, they are the first best seller in their category and the other is the second most sold in their category. Our product is of the highest quality, we have always taken care of this aspect first and foremost.

We don't manufacture probiotics, but we import them from the best producers in Europe. When we place a purchase order, we ask that the probiotic be manufactured right then and there, it's not in a hurry. For our products, the strains are produced on the spot, following our formula.

To begin with, it is a very fresh product and this guarantees us an enormous quality. Then the packaging is super important. We use vegan acid-resistant capsules. These only allow between 2% and 3% moisture compared to traditional gelatin, which have 14% moisture. The enemies of probiotics are moisture, with these capsules we reduce it.

In addition, being acid-resistant is a key point, because when you swallow it, the first thing that happens to that capsule is that it falls into the stomach and there is brutal acidity. So it's vital that the capsule lasts at least 30 minutes, so that the probiotics get where they need to go.

In addition to all this, the bottle also matters a lot; a PET bottle - made of plastic - with the blisters, allows light and moisture to pass through the product. While our glass jars don't let anything go by, they are much more ecological and environmentally responsible.

I want to mention that for every four bottles of Bioflora sold, we plant a tree. This year, we are going to plant 30 hectares, which is a small forest. And we're going to reforest it here in Valle de Bravo. And that's one of the things we like the most: being able to bring a positive and tangible impact to the community where we live.

Frank: They're a small team, right?

Jan: We outsource a lot. We believe that we must be experts in what we do. For this reason, we are experts in probiotics and then we look for experts in other areas to support us: who does the best logistics, who has the best control, who does the best marketing, who manufactures the best containers, etc.

This is how a business ecosystem is created around your project that you know works, because everyone is an expert in their subject, you can't know about logistics, marketing, packaging and everything... That's impossible. In addition, nowadays it's very easy to surround yourself with experts if you put your ego aside and recognize that you don't know everything.

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Expert Ecosystem

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One of the keys to Bioflora's success has been the intelligent way of approaching the compartmentalization of a modern business: expert partners in each area. Jan insists, with enormous wisdom, “We cannot be a master of all trades”, he is much more intelligent and efficient, seeking professional help in every field, in order to be able to dedicate himself to what really matters to them: making Bioflora grow.

In the field of logistics, Jan got that ally to add to his ecosystem of experts, in Cubbo. And he has no regrets.

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Frank: How do they get to Cubbo?

Jan: I first had another logistics provider that was very rudimentary. For example, when I sold on Amazon I had to print the sheet, send it via Whatsapp to this supplier, which was also not technologically integrated into anything. And I spoke to him and asked him: “hey please modernize yourself, to integrate with my ecommerce platforms, so that orders arrive automatically”. And I gave him two months for this, because it was impossible for us to work like that.

And while we were already looking for someone to do this, I think an advertisement for Cubbo arrived on Instagram and from there I contacted Josu and they took a lot of work out of our way, because at the moment they connected to the Shopify that we use in the store. Besides, they get good shipping and shipping rates and we haven't had any problems with them to date. Everything worked out for me. And they've taken a headache away from me.

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Frank: Do you sell all over Mexico?

Jan: We have two business models: one for e-commerce sales and the other for wholesale. This allows anyone anywhere in Mexico to enter e-commerce and buy what they want.

For now, we will continue to distribute in Mexico only. A few years ago I went to Colombia but it was very difficult for us to do the whole process of expanding, especially since due to the type of product we have to be very careful with local laws. In addition, we began this process in the midst of Covid and that has paralyzed everything a little.

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Also read: Ecommerce in power with Nowma, a strategic ally

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Frank: Five years from now, where do you see Bioflora?

Jan: The plan is to consolidate ourselves in Mexico with the range of products we have. Last year we released seven new products, which was a beast between logistics, permits and production. This year we will release another three or four new products. And the key for us is to cover more and more pharmacy chains and to consolidate retail little by little.

We are very innovative, sometimes too innovative. It happens to us that we are early to market several times and we launch the product even though the market has not matured.

But we like to do this. We launched the product and let it mature there, and I'm sure that in a few years it will be a success. We are growing at an enormous rate, approximately 60%.

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Frank: What advice would you give to a Mexican entrepreneur who wants to start a business right now?

Jan: Do all the research you can. Whatever business you want to do, research it thoroughly. And then have capital. You need to have the capital. Because something more expensive is always going to come out than you thought, or you can stay half done. And finally: take care of the execution. The execution has to be perfect. Especially if it's in ecommerce. Bad reviews kill you. Your product has to be impeccable, your after-sales service has to be excellent, etc.

Finally, I would tell him to never do a business just to make money. That kills passion. Look for something that you like, that you fall in love with. It's very nice to do a business and for it to go well, but it's nicer if it also makes you fall in love and it also serves to help your environment, your community. I think the joke is in sharing, in generosity: if you give, it comes back to you.

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