Bioflora: Champions of Probiotics in Mexico
Estimated reading time:8 min
Jan Landeros is the co-founding partner of Bioflora along with Dr. Valerie Katthain. Their project is one of the most successful cases of ecommerce in Mexico, with two products that crown 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 building 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 those that have true value.
Frank: Tell us how Bioflora was born?
Jan: The way 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 throughout Latin America and in some parts of Europe. I left because working in a very large factory is exhausting, but before leaving, I brought out a product of my own, some probiotics for dogs.
In the factory I learned a lot and I am grateful for that learning, I always had many ventures and although not all of those projects were successful, 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 do it.
As Valerie, her family, is also involved in a dairy company, for this reason, we thought about distributing with them, but they told us that they could not distribute in glass and we had to solve that ourselves. This is how Bioflora began.
Frank: Are probiotics similar for animals and humans?
Jan: There are many differences but not in the 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 mixture in a plastic bag, as experiments are done, and we produced a batch of one hundred products.
Frank: Are they born as ecommerce or do they start as a physical store?
Jan: From the beginning, when we considered forming the company, about five years ago, we sat down with another friend who is a business advisor 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 will need it in five years. And so it was. We started in 2016 and formalized it in 2017.
We did that first period relying on small shops here in Valle de Bravo and then the ecommerce as such really exploded.
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Frank: So things have gone well for you.
Jan: Yes. In fact, two of our products are in the first and second positions in the Mexican market. That is, they are the first best-seller in their category and the other is the second best-seller in their category. Our product is of very high quality, we have always taken care of this aspect above all.
We do not manufacture probiotics, but rather we import them from the best producers in Europe. When we place a purchase order, we ask that the probiotic be manufactured at that moment, it is not warehoused. 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 enormous quality. Then the packaging is super important. We use acid resistant vegan capsules. These only allow between 2% and 3% humidity compared to traditional gelatin ones that have 14% humidity. The enemies of probiotics are humidity, with these capsules we reduce it.
Furthermore, 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 a brutal acidity. So it is vital that the capsule lasts at least 30 minutes, so that the probiotics reach where they need to go.
In addition to all this, the bottle also matters a lot; a PET - plastic - bottle with the blister packs, allows light and moisture to pass through the product. While our glass jars don't let anything through, they are much more ecological and responsible for the environment.
I want to mention that for every four jars of Bioflora sold, we plant a tree. This year, we are going to plant 30 hectares, which is a small forest. And we are going to reforest it here in Valle de Bravo. And that is one of the things we like the most: being able to contribute a positive and tangible impact to the community where we live.
Frank: They are a small team, right?
Jan:We outsource a lot. We are believers that you have to be experts in what you 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 makes the best packaging, 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 cannot know about logistics, marketing, packaging and everything... That is impossible. Furthermore, nowadays it is very easy to surround yourself with experts if you leave your ego aside and recognize that you don't know everything.
Expert ecosystem
One of the keys to Bioflora's success has been the intelligent way of approaching the compartmentalization of a modern business: expert allies in each area. Jan insists, with enormous wisdom, “We cannot be a jack of all trades”, it is much smarter and more efficient to seek professional help in each field, to be able to dedicate themselves to what really matters to them: making Bioflora grow.
In the field of logistics, Jan found that ally to add to his ecosystem of experts, in Cubbo. And he has no regrets.
Frank: How do you get to Cubbo?
Jan: I first had another logistics provider that was very rudimentary. For example, when I sold for Amazon I had to print the sheet and send it via WhatsApp to this supplier, who was also not technologically integrated into anything. And I spoke to him and asked him: “Hey, please modernize yourself, to integrate into my ecommerce platforms, so that orders arrive to you automatically.” And I gave him two months for this, because it was impossible for us to work like this.
And while we were already looking for someone to do this, I think I received an advertisement from Cubbo through Instagram and from there I contacted Josu and they took a lot of work off our shoulders, because they immediately connected to the Shopify that we use in the store. Apart from that, they get good transportation and shipping rates and we have not had any problems with them to date. Everything has turned out well for me. And they have taken away a headache from my shoulders.
Frank: Do you sell throughout Mexico?
Jan: We have two business models: one for sales to ecommerce and another for wholesale. This allows anyone anywhere in Mexico to enter the ecommerce and buy whatever they want.
For now we will continue distributing in Mexico only. A few years ago I went to Colombia but it became very complex for us to do the entire process of expanding, especially because due to the type of product we have to be very careful with local laws. Furthermore, we started this process in the middle of the Covid issue and that has paralyzed everything a bit.
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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 product offering we have. Last year we released seven new products, which was a beast between logistics, permits and production. This year we will bring out another three or four new products. And the key for us is to increasingly cover more pharmacy chains and consolidate retail little by little.
We are very innovative, sometimes too much so. It happens to us that we are early to market several times and we launch the product even when the market has not matured.
But we like to do this. We launch the product and let it mature there, and I am sure that in a few years it will be a success. We are growing at an enormous rate, approximately 60%.
Frank: What advice would you give to a Mexican entrepreneur who wants to start creating 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 is always going to be more expensive than you thought, or you can end up halfway. And finally: take care of the execution. The execution has to be perfect. Especially if it is 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 you to never do a business just to make money. That kills the passion. Find something that you like, that you fall in love with. It is very nice to do a business and have it go well, but it is more beautiful if you also fall in love with it and it also serves to help your environment, your community. I think the joke is in sharing, in generosity: if you give, it will come back to you.
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During 2021 in Cubbo:
* Our clients recorded 21% savings in operating costs
* 97.1% of the products received were processed and ready to sell in 24 hours.
* We achieved 99.7% shipping compliance
* We register aprecision in order preparation of 99.9875%, that is, 1 error every 8,000 shipments.
* 60% of our deliveries in CDMX were made the same day
* We made nationwide deliveries in 1.3 dayson average
We We act as your shipping platform in Mexico so you can expand your business in a simple way.
