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Miguel Leal, former EVP of Marketing at KIND Snacks, is CEO of Mexican food brand SOMOS, which he co-founded alongside fellow KIND alum Rodrigo Zuloaga and KIND founder Daniel Lubetzy.
How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? Our objective is to make cooking Mexican food at home quicker, tastier, and cheaper, ultimately closing the gap between people ordering Mexican food exclusively from Uber Eats to cooking it themselves with restaurant-quality ingredients.
One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? How much Mexican food I actually have to eat for this job!
What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? Last fall, we launched AbuelaAI as a platform to help folks get creative with cooking Mexican food in their own kitchens. It was amazing to learn about a new technology that I have never used before and the process was fascinating. The fact that I got to do this project with my mom made it even sweeter.
Which emerging retail trend are you most excited about right now, and why? I am very excited about the evolution of in-store AR—the ability to see items on the shelf and get the recipes at the same time, plus being able to look at the items in your fridge and understand the fastest way to put them together for a tasty meal will be a game changer for those on the fringe of cooking.
What’s your go-to coffee order? Vanilla latte as is, whatever milk! Barista’s choice.
Worst piece of advice you’ve received? Launching DTC first instead of focusing on retail from Day One.
What was your favorite retail product when you were 15, and what’s your favorite retail product now? My favorite retail product at 15 was Cookie Crisp cereal (I couldn’t get it in Mexico, but I could get it when I visited my grandmother). My favorite retail product now is Tia Lupita Cactus + Corn Tortillas—they taste like the real thing but are a portion of the carbs.
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