Community Highlights: Meet Mauricio Robleto of Foods From The World

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mauricio Robleto. 

Hi Mauricio, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born and raised in San Jose, Costa Rica. No different than most locals, I went to school in the city, and on holidays, we would drive the narrow roads that led to the closest beaches. Similarly, to my fellow young Costa Ricans, I was determined to complete a bachelor’s and graduate degree right after high school. And being an aspiring entrepreneur like my parents, that graduate degree had to be in the United States, leading to me relocating to the East Coast in the summer of ’92. 

At the time, all there was for me was cities and modern life. I didn’t know that I had left a rainforest that one day would be one of the most talked about topics in the news. Back then, Costa Ricans had already started protecting large parts of the rainforest by declaring them national parks, but for me, ecology and climate change sounded a bit too science fiction; little did I know my roots would call on me later to re-educate me. 

I started hitting my entrepreneurial goals right after completing my MBA. Knitting had gone viral, and Julia Roberts had been cast to make a movie called The Friday Night Knitting Club. This helped knitting become “cool” and popular. 

This next part more luck than research, but an Uruguayan buddy from grad school had gone back to his country and made me an offer to distribute his wool yarn, leading to me starting a yarn company out of Santa Monica. 

Not knowing that Uruguayan wool was the best in the world, I started hitting yarn stores in the L.A. basin. From there, my first business rapidly evolved as our yarn became popular, first in California, then the entirety of the states. 

This success took me into a new entrepreneurial experience and great financial excitement. We went as far as being mentioned in knitting books, and I even got to meet Tracy Ullman (a British-American actress and knitter) – she shook my hand at a store and told me she was a big fan of our wool. Mind-blowing! 

But the fun ended in 2008: literally overnight, orders stopped due to the financial crisis. People had no money to spare for fancy yarn, and unfortunately, we had to close our business. 

By this time, I was already familiar with L.A. I was eagerly exploring the west side cities and noticed that with so many people starving for success, it was a struggle to come up with what to do next. On the one hand, in the city, it feels like everyone strives to create something huge, making it an extremely competitive landscape. I also found that there are all kinds of people living in Los Angeles, all in one place; different ethnic groups, races, artists, beliefs, etc. So, I surrounded myself with people that had what I wanted, I became more self-aware by trying to learn lessons from the best; eventually, this led me to appreciate my roots and where I came from. 

Sometime in 2008, I made the first import of exotic fruit purees from Costa Rica into the United States. And my second business was born. The authentic jungle fruit was a hit; so successful that I started distributing it to restaurants like Javier’s Cantina and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I’ve had many struggles, and they’re still coming. There is a saying that goes, “the biggest challenge is oneself.” I don’t think this is just a cliché. Any obstacle in the way of our goals is only as big as we make it. 

Really. People react differently to the same situation, so why be the person who panics the most? Ultimately the calm and collected person is much more likely to make smarter decisions. That said, I’ve never had it go smoothly for a long period but keeping an eye on my larger purpose makes the journey feel more real and even a bit easier. 

As you know, we’re big fans of Foods From The World. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Foods From The World is a company I founded with the commitment written on its mission “Foods for a better planet” www.foodsfromworld.com. 

The two brands that are being offered under this company are Jungle Pulp and Dulu. Jungle Pulp offers artisan purees made in a jungle and brings native local taste into recipes. Their purpose is to remind their customers of the treasures rainforests have to offer, and the importance of protecting them. (www.junglepulp.com) 

Dulu, which translates from the indigenous Bri-Bri language as Turquoise or Intense Blue, is the brand of our Hearts of Palm and features a Morpho butterfly. It promotes the healthy foods of the forest and brings awareness of the declining Bri-Bri culture. 

Foods From The World is a project with a purpose that I envision going even deeper. It was created with the goal of re-inventing the food industry and how we deal with one another. Based on the principles of Conscious Capitalism, we want food companies to solve rather than add to world problems. We want companies to start incorporating a cause to take action towards solving. A bit like in Costa Rica, where in places one must plant a tree for every amount of land they own, we should take on one community problem for every piece of market we conquer. 

Visit www.foodsfromworld.com 

Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I have always been hesitant to take big risks. I tend to focus on several tasks at once, so it is easier for me to manage them if I am a bit more conservative. Despite this, I want to become more of a risk-taker in the future. I recognize that if you want to be successful, you must take risks. However, I also believe that you should prepare to take risks. There is no point in throwing caution to the wind for no reason. I believe you should prepare for success, so you can reap the benefits when you take a risk. I never want to be a person who is so concerned about what they might lose that I cannot reap the rewards of a successful risk. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.junglepulp.com
• Instagram: junglepulp
• Facebook: Jungle Pulp