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Cocina Soluciones S.A.S is a company that produces artisan bakery, inspired by French bakeries (a caramelized puff pastry, caramelized apples with a puff pastry base, sourdough breads and quiches, among others), but using products that come in 90% from local Colombian suppliers.
Although it is a young company, it is already a well-known bakery in Bogotá, which carries out exhaustive research on products and markets and is capable of developing innovative, high-quality and exclusive products. The artisan products are made with raw materials, mostly organic, of high quality that generate an important social impact in different regions of the country.
The three founders of the company, Dylan Misrachi, Jerôme Di Salvio and Camila Vélez, made the decision to open their own points of sale through the creation of the brand “Mistral”, through which they already have three restaurants/coffee shops, where they offer great and welcoming experience to its customers, with highly trained young staff.
Mistral has approximately 51 products in its menu, which in turn supports around 1600 small farmers, part of them are based in areas affected by the armed conflict and cocaine plantations and other farmers in localities that have vulnerable communities.
They buy directly from associations such as Agrosolidaria (for products such as flour) and Comité de Ganaderos del Caquetá for cheese and butter. Every opening of a new outlet implies growing demand for supplies, so for each new point of sale, demand for flour and dairy will increase.
The company understands the importance of social investment and the impact they can have on changing living conditions, starting from small producers. Although currently the greatest social impact occurs in Caquetá, some producers are located in Putumayo, in the south of Colombia. Additionally, the social impact is made indirectly in the purchase of the main product: flour. At the moment it is not feasible to buy directly from producers, but their suppliers do work with producers from different areas of the country. Additionally, the social impact can be measured with the work they do to small merchants of Bogota and surrounding areas to the city, from whom they buy chocolates, coffee and some other products that are distributed in MISTRAL. They paid a differential price in order to secure their income. Since it is complex to buy flour for production directly from small wheat producers, it is bought from associations that work with small producers, thus generating indirect social impact on 50 wheat producers.
The product
Cocina Soluciones produces deep- frozen, ready-to-bake products. They bring the customers “a French experience” through their products in their 3 neighborhood stores in Bogota.
They have 31 types of breads, the croissant being the star product. In Mistral outlets besides selling semi-finished products like bakery, desserts, and coffee, there is in-place preparation of other products, mainly main courses, such as meat, sauces, soups, salted snacks and side dishes; they have approximately 51 references.
The company sources from Caqueta, a region where the largest share of the economy comes from milk and cocoa after substituting illicit crops. It allows the customers to have a great experience by offering artisanal products that generate a social impact for smallholders through the purchase of inputs for their final products like Quesos Caqueta, free-hens eggs etc.
Production
The entrepreneurs have their own production plant of 300m2 in the industrial zone of Bogotá, where 100m3 is adequate for the correct storage of ultra-frozen foods (-10 ° C).
The manufacturing techniques are a mix of handcraft and high technology to allow maximum plant capacity to be used. Part of the winning strategy is based on a careful selection of raw materials in order to achieve an excellent quality final product. Cocina Soluciones is using organic products or other products that do not contain ingredients that can affect health. The company adds value to the products since their products are made with high craftsmanship, with the quality standards and certifications taken into account, and with expert chefs that studied at renowned culinary schools in France. Additionally, the technology used in the manufacturing plant (IQF process), guarantees a longer life cycle of the product, with no chemicals needed.
The company looks for excellence through continuous improvement and permanent innovation to achieve profitable business units that result in growth opportunities that generate well-being for their collaborators (supplier and workers) and contribute to market dynamics.
Cocina Soluciones – Mistral is a way of demonstrating a successful case of responsible production and responsible consumption. On the one hand, we have a company that has a sense of quality in production linked to the need to associate with suppliers of raw materials that respect the environment and natural production cycles, which at the same time establishes fair trade relations with its suppliers. On the other hand, we have consumers who are increasingly aware of the importance and need to consume organic products and who are willing to pay an additional price for the producer to benefit, but they are still demanding in terms of the quality of the product.
This company has achieved that balance and has become a benchmark in Bogotá for high quality, delicious products and generation of impact. We are very happy to accompany Cocina Soluciones – Mistral in its expansion process in the coming years.
In April 2023 we opened the 4th point of sale that will have particular characteristics, as it opens in an area with a large number of high-income consumers.
Mistral’s objective is to carry out a territorial expansion through new restaurants in other sectors of Bogota and in other cities, given the positive reception that their formats have had so far by offering a good quality product and an experience.
Bogota has the biggest population in the country with a high income consumption level. According to the Market Holding Capacity, Mistral could have around 15 stores; this was an essential insight inside Mistral strategy in order to make hard choices in order to prioritize cities and channels to achieve significant growth in the short-medium term.
Cocina Soluciones seeks to open its fourth restaurant in Bogotá, which is projected to be the most iconic and largest one, with which it expects to bill more than 5,000 million during the first year. They have their own production plant that can serve another 3 restaurants in addition to the one intended to be opened with this investment.
The support process for Cocina Soluciones is divided into three stages: