Fila Manila is a Filipino-American food company that offers an award-winning line of authentic Filipino sauces, spreads, and condiments. The company was founded in 2020 by Jake Deleon, a first-generation Filipino-American immigrant entrepreneur.
Jake’s journey with Filipino food started in his childhood. He grew up in a loving Filipino immigrant family in New Jersey where food played a central role in all family gatherings. Jake fondly remembers the delicious Filipino dishes, overflowing dining tables, and joyful laughter that filled these family meals. From a young age, Jake helped his family make and sell homemade Filipino delicacies to earn extra income. This early exposure sparked Jake’s deep appreciation for Filipino cuisine and culture.
After graduating college, Jake built an accomplished career working for major consumer brands like Procter & Gamble and Starbucks. While hiking during quarantine in 2020, Jake felt an entrepreneurial calling. He researched the Filipino diaspora in America and made a startling discovery – despite being the second largest Asian population in the US, Filipino cuisine was severely underrepresented in grocery stores.
Inspired to celebrate his heritage, Jake got to work testing recipes in his kitchen. Using just a $1,200 stimulus check, a few family recipes, and his corporate experience, Jake launched Fila Manila. Their inaugural line of sauces included Kare Kare peanut sauce, Caldereta tomato sauce, and the flagship Adobo sauce. Fila Manila quickly dominated the Filipino sauce market with almost 80% market share.
Since their meteoric launch, Fila Manila has won numerous awards including two NEXTY Awards from the Natural Products Expo and one On Trend Award from KeHE Distributors. They’ve been featured widely in Bon Appétit, Food Network, and Forbes. Today, Fila Manila sauces are sold online and in major grocery chains nationwide.
Founder Jake Deleon is a first-generation Filipino American born in the Philippines and raised in New Jersey. After earning a computer design degree, Jake built an impressive marketing and brand management career at companies like Procter & Gamble, Starbucks, and Blizzard Entertainment. This experience shaped Jake’s expertise in consumer insights, product innovation, and brand building.
In 2015, Jake founded his first startup, Origin Almond, a successful line of almond-based beverages. After Origin Almond closed in 2020 due to pandemic disruptions, Jake tapped into the Filipino cuisine opportunity with his innate entrepreneurial grit.
Fila Manila’s line of sauces spotlights beloved Filipino flavors. Their award-winning Adobo sauce features a savory-tangy blend of vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, and soy sauce. This versatile sauce doubles as both a marinade and a simmer sauce for proteins and vegetables. Fila Manila’s Kare Kare sauce offers a rich peanut-based stew, influenced by indigenous, Spanish, and Southeast Asian culinary traditions. Creamy peanut combines with tangy vinegar and warm spices for a signature Filipino flavor.
The company’s bright yellow Banana Ketchup cleverly reinvents traditional tomato ketchup using ripe bananas, sugar, vinegar and spices. Born out of wartime necessity, banana ketchup has become an iconic Filipino condiment. Fila Manila also offers Ube Purple Yam Spread made from the vibrant purple yam integral to Filipino cuisine.
With his passion, perseverance, and deep appreciation of Filipino flavors, Jake Deleon is sharing his cultural heritage with the world through Fila Manila’s growing line of products. Fila Manila represents the future of Filipino American food with high quality, authentically-inspired sauces and spreads.
