PHILADELPHIA — Meeting consumer expectations is at the top of the list for every founder, and Jake Deleon, founder of Fila Manila, would agree. Consumers have told the company that the current “paler red” color of its banana ketchup “did not look appetizing,” prompting Deleon to rethink the formulation. Fila Manila, which launched in 2020, is a startup that produces Filipino-inspired condiments and simmer sauces.

The goal of the update, Deleon said, was to not only have the banana ketchup’s color be as close to imported banana ketchup red or tomato ketchup red as possible, but also to improve the company’s customer experience to foster additional growth.

“Having a more vibrant, appetizing color was key for the new formulation,” he said. “Consumers tend to eat with their eyes first before their mouth. We never use artificial colors, only natural, plant-based colors to achieve a red. That limits what can be achieved color wise by the product.

“We believe that improving our products, like this new iteration of banana ketchup, will improve the customer experience and thus help grow new users and repeat purchase from existing customers so that we become a regular staple in more households.”

The company’s previous formulation was banana puree (bananas, citric acid and/or ascorbic acid), water, white vinegar, sugar, kosher salt, avocado oil, guar gum, xanthan gum, garlic powder, onion powder, fruit and vegetable juice for color (carrot and blackcurrant), ground ginger and allspice.

The company is now using purple carrot, radish and red bell pepper to achieve its red color.

The updated formulation also will continue to use avocado oil to make the product seed oil free, Deleon said. Other changes include adjusting the banana ketchup’s sweetness level.

Deleon said the update will provide a sweet, tangy and tropical twist for the banana ketchup’s flavor.

“One thing I’ve learned from the condiment category is that color really speaks to what people think of the flavor,” he said. “We did a blind test with consumers and had the same base recipe. So, imagine the same base recipe, we just had one version that had a vibrant red and one that had a muted red. People would say the vibrant red tastes so much better and ask what did you change. It just shows there’s no difference in the recipe besides the color and people need the richness of the color with the flavor.”

Before founding Fila Manila, Deleon was a marketing and category manager at Starbucks and also worked at Procter & Gamble. While he was on the marketing teams at both companies, Deleon took notes from the R&D teams.

“Normally it (R&D) can get very pricey if you work with food scientists and formulators,” he said. “But in our case, I have a bit of experience so our R&D is done in house. The R&D (for the updated formulation) was done in my kitchen.”  

The banana ketchup’s formulation update comes as the US Food and Drug Administration recently banned the use of Red No. 3 starting in January 2027.

“We had nothing to fear at Fila Manila because all of our products are made in the US and there’s no health or quality concerns,” he said. “We know a lot of manufacturers, especially that use Red No. 3 for condiments, are going to start looking at reformulation. That’s why we started to use radish as a color source.

“We wanted to attract and keep this audience (Filippino American). The reformulation helped to achieve a color and texture that was more akin to what they were accustomed to.”

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