Bombs Mexican Bowl

To make the preparation

1. Start by frying the Mozzarella Cheese Bombs. Once ready, place them on a plate.
2. Add the Guacamole on top of the Cheese Bombs.
3. Add the Sour Cream on top of the Cheese Bombs.
4. Add the Red Chunky Salsa to your preference.
5. Add the chopped cilantro on top.
6. To finish, squeeze a lemon all over the plate and enjoy.

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We’re very proud to announce that we’re expanding our business with new products!

We thank all those who have followed our adventure from day one.  After all the support we have received, we’re pleased to continue sharing the Yemi story with all of you.  As always, it fills us with enthusiasm and confidence for the future, that no matter how complicated it may be, we’ll continue to face it with the purpose of representing every Puerto Rican and show that it can be done regardless of adversity.

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YEMI IS ALREADY SELLING TO SUPERMARKETS, RESTAURANTS AND HOTELS ALL OVER THE ISLAND.

The entrepreneurial spirit is increasingly palpable in Puerto Rico, especially among young people, who with audacity, courage and determination are starting to develop their own businesses.  And not necessarily all of them do it because they can’t find a job, many of them do it because they genuinely have the desire to start a business and put their efforts into making their business a success.

One of those young people is Jezreel David García Barragán, who at 26, is the owner of the Yemi, LLC., a family business devoted to manufacturing frozen foods.  Currently, Yemi manufactures hazelnut chocolate-filled pastries, cheese fingers, cheese and guava pastries, and tapas.  The latter are squared-shaped pieces of dough that are fried and eaten as a snack with guacamole or different sauces.

In an interview with Negocios, García Barragán said that he inherited his entrepreneurial spirit from his mother, a high-level executive of the beauty firm L’Bel, who has always been his inspiration in his quest for excellence.  The young man is Colombian and is married to Sharayma Bey Hernández from Puerto Rico, his right-hand woman in the business.

“Ever since I was a little boy I envisioned having a food business,” said García Barragán, who opened his frozen products factory earlier this year in the town of San Germán.

He came to Puerto Rico five years ago from the Dominican Republic, where he had lived since he was 13 years old, thanks to an athletic scholarship -he plays soccer- awarded to him by the Inter-American University of San Germán.  He graduated last year with a bachelor’s degree in Business Development and completed his internship at Inter-American’s Small Business Technology and Development Center (SBTDC).

He said that having done his internship at the SBTDC helped him become an entrepreneur, since he took advantage of the opportunity to develop a business plan and make contacts that supported him in this initiative.

With an investment of $15,000, from his own savings and a loan from his mother, he started production.  “I focused on finding an economical location, I purchased several second-hand pieces of equipment, and an artist friend of mine helped me design the logo.  I’m knocking on doors to have them open for me,” he said with total confidence.

The dough recipe is his own creation.  Cheese fingers were the first product he developed; the dough is rolled and filled with white cheese.  Then, he created the chocolate and hazelnut pastries. These are sold at retail in half-dozen packages, while the little fingers come in one-dozen packages.

Both are already available at 16 Econo Supermarkets, including the one in Altamira in Guaynabo, Trujillo Alto, Rincón and San Germán.  In fact, the San Germán Econo was the first to open its doors and give him the opportunity to sell the product.  In the coming weeks, Yemi products will also arrive at Pueblo Supermarkets and SuperMax; and they’re already available in independent supermarkets.

As a strategy to advertise the Yemi brand, whose slogan is “Taste it”, the young couple holds tastings on weekends in various supermarkets.  They’re also on Facebook and Instagram.

García Barragán also sells to restaurants and inns, but in larger packages. For that sector he makes the four products, and doesn’t rule out that eventually the cheese and guava pastries and tapas will also reach supermarkets. “We want to position the other two products first, before launching more variety”.

As it happens in any small business, this young couple divides the tasks, since there are multiple functions that they must perform, as if they were a large corporation.  He’s in charge of obtaining customers, delivering orders and negotiating with suppliers, while his wife works in administration, follows up with customers, and is finishing her studies in psychology.  They both work in production, create the recipes and do the tastings, while also taking time to care for their two-year-old daughter.

“I envision Yemi as a global brand. We’re just starting out and I know we have a long way to go. But I’ll tell you something, I looked for a job and thank God I didn’t find it because it led me to create what I had always dreamed of”, the young man emotionally stated.

Note from www.elnuevodia.com

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YEMI PRODUCTS IS EXPANDING ITS VARIETY AND CREATING NEW JOBS AT ITS NEW FACTORY IN SAN GERMÁN

If there’s one thing that stands out about entrepreneur Jezreel García Barragán, it’s his enthusiasm, hard work and tenacity, qualities that have led him, in just two years, to expand his hors d’oeuvre manufacturing company Yemi LLC.

Six months ago, the entrepreneur decided it was time to create a new type of packaging, add more flavor variety to cheese fingers and increase production rate.

The 27-year-old from Colombia, founded his small family business in 2015, whose name originated from the combination of Yeye, which family and friends call Jezreel, and Mimi, his mother’s nickname and who’s his inspiration and role model.  Cheese fingers and chocolate and hazelnut mousse (cocktail pastries) were the first hors d’oeuvres he launched on the market.

With total candor, he told this newspaper that initially, he didn’t have much budget to market the brand, so he concentrated on the quality of his product, which he packaged in small, simple foam trays covered with cellophane. “Those were times for learning, becoming familiar with the market and analyzing the brand’s positioning.  In the process, I realized that it isn’t just about manufacturing a good product, but also about competing.  You compete for quality and packaging, and our challenge was to highlight the products on the shelf.  You have to earn that space in the refrigerators,” said the Inter-American University Business Development graduate.

Accustomed to going up against others with the goal of winning, the former soccer player reinvested the profits from the business seeking to make it grow.  He first contacted a graphic artist to design new packaging, and another local business that supports small businesses, 3A Press in Lajas, manufactured it for him.

He then moved to a larger facility allowing him to increase his production, hired four employees to help him with that work, and incorporated the new flavors.  Now, Yemi has mozzarella, cheddar and gouda fingers.  Each package has 12 pieces.

The product is fried, like potatoes or fried plantains, there’s no need to wait for it to defrost and the dough is soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside.

In the case of the chocolate and hazelnut mousse, the small box has six pieces.  The young entrepreneur said that customers and some restaurants like to serve them with a scoop of ice cream. “It’s been a success.  The customers themselves were telling me, you have to try them with ice cream.  That combination of ice cream coldness with the crunchiness and warmth of the chocolate and hazelnut-filled dessert is perfect.  That’s why we call it mousse because it’s an inspiring dessert,” he said.

The new Yemi products will be available at the end of this month in the Pueblo and Supermax supermarket chains, as well as in some Econo stores. “We’re negotiating with other supermarkets and we hope that the large chains will open their doors to us and support the local manufacturer”, said the interviewee.

He explained that the cheese fingers fall into the frozen hors d’oeuvres category, so the packages will be available in the mozzarella sticks and fried yuquitas section, among others. Meanwhile, chocolate and hazelnut mousse will be in the ice cream section.

Yemi has other packaging for wholesalers and for the institutional market, which he calls the Ettie Mix -in honor of the businessman who gave him the idea to create it- and which is made up of 24 small boxes, six of each flavor.  “That packaging is ideal because its size saves space for wholesalers in the warehouse,” said García Barragán.

Before the end of the year, he plans to open an area where customers can go directly to the factory and buy products.  “If we don’t take risks, we won’t win.  Fear is holding us back, and small businessmen need to try new things and show that we can move our businesses forward,” he said with his characteristic tenacity and enthusiasm.

Note from www.elnuevodia.com

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