S04.E10: Los Gemelos

[Tara Ariano]

Quote

A Mexican restaurant and tortilleria in Port Chester, N.Y. is losing ground in a crowded market, but Marcus and comedian George Lopez hope they can turn the business around.

[Primetimer]

And other not-quite-burning questions as Lemonis learns to dance with the salsa sector.

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[krawz555]

Ok...I'm college educated, consider myself a rather sharp tool in the box, I watch the Profit pretty regularly but if I was told to "go do research" I'd probably hit up the Internet first, too! I'm not a marketing major and either is Adelo. I feel like Marcus was rather harsh in critiquing him. The guy makes tortillas. Marcus saw how he ran his business....did he really think Adelo was gonna have a strategic marketing strategy with charts and graphs and visit 50 stores and ask all the right questions?? Marcus kept saying he was very clear with his instructions but unless more was said off camera , I don't think so. I felt bad for Adelo. I think he was trying very hard and doing the best he could but doesn't have a head for business. And Marcus exploited that for his show.

[Christina]

It seems like every comment I've made on PTV in the last few days has been negative so maybe it's just me and I'm a bit negative lately (common denominator and all).

I did not like this episode. I didn't like Adelo and thought he was shady. If that machinery wasn't allowed in the U.S. because it couldn't be made safe, then he probably wasn't paying into Workers' Comp and was only one workplace injury away from losing everything. I also questioned how he got away with not paying the back wages he owed, and if he actually had a food license for those premises. He didn't seem to have any idea what he was doing as far as running a business goes.

I didn't like that Marcus didn't seem to have any idea what was going on with the business even though he said he reviewed the financial paperwork. How did he not know that there were eviction proceedings? Once Adelo lied to him about the transfer of equipment to the owner of the premises for back rent, claiming he thought he was talking about "the other" equipment, Marcus should have walked away.

Which leads me to believe George Lopez wanted to invest in that company specifically and sought Marcus out  since he doesn't have business investing experience. Marcus should have pointed out the problems to him and asked if he really wanted to be part of a business that uses dangerous equipment in unsanitary buildings and doesn't pay it's employees. Also, the owner owes his sister $400k and can't repay her. 

There really doesn't seem to be a need for more chips, or tortillas. There doesn't seem to be a need for this company, at all, and like all the clothing and shoe companies Marcus invests in, I don't know why and he didn't really explain to me why he wanted it. Everything about this company screamed "Bad Investment" and "Little Possibility of Scaling." Marcus wanted to entirely change the "Product," had to change the "Process," and was lied to by the "People." What happened to People, Process and Product? I feel like I missed something, and didn't like the episode to watch it a second time. 

[Albino]

My main issue is with the packaging. The drawing of 2 guys obviously worked well when the working name was "Dos Amigos" but it's like "Huh?" when the brand is "Ta Loco" or whatever it was. Also...I don't understand why they didn't leverage George Lopez's name on the packaging. That little caricature doesn't instantly telegraph George Lopez....it's a guy with a mustache. I could stare at that likeness for hours, and not make the connection. And then if by some supernatural intervention I did realize it was Lopez, I'd spend the next 20 years trying to figure out who the other guy is.

Edited November 23, 2016 by Albino

[Amarsir]

What I liked about this episode was that it was pretty much a "lets build from scratch". Just a touch more honest than the usual pretense of taking an existing business and changing the name, the look, and the products. As it was, the foreclosure drama was the lowest point.  Of course that still leaves the ever-present question "Why are you partnering with this guy?" Marcus is basically hiring a manager for equity  - which does have some virtue but probably wouldn't be done if this was off-camera.

The irony of this episode is that all they created is a brand, while proving to us that brand doesn't matter. It's all made in the same place anyway.  And in order to go large they specifically avoided the lesser-known products. (Also, every time a location is shut down I think of the self-serving "I do it to save jobs" in the title sequence. Not that it's the wrong call, but he's setting himself up for that.)

"I don't have a ton of interest in investing in a restaurant because it's not scalable." Maybe you could have him build a General Store, Marcus?

12 hours ago, Albino said:

My main issue is with the packaging. The drawing of 2 guys obviously worked well when the working name was "Dos Amigos" but it's like "Huh?" when the brand is "Ta Loco" or whatever it was. Also...I don't understand why they didn't leverage George Lopez's name on the packaging. That little caricature doesn't instantly telegraph George Lopez....it's a guy with a mustache. I could stare at that likeness for hours, and not make the connection. And then if by some supernatural intervention I did realize it was Lopez, I'd spend the next 20 years trying to figure out who the other guy is.

Completely agree. Less airtime please on "this factory we shut down was already getting shut down" and more on the process that led them to that odd decision.

[attica]

I would totally be in the market looking for mole, just saying. And I'm so very very white. I'd eat that shit straight out the jar like nutella.

[Lola16]

That restaurant was in walking distance of a Super Stop & Shop and less than a mile from Key Foods, Acme, D'Agostino's and Whole Foods. Wouldn't take much to do some in market research. The guy didn't need a degree in marketing both Marcus & George told him - Chips, Salsa, and Tortillas. So he comes up with 3 random items - frozen tamales (which he didn't even try), mole (yum), pan dulce.  What do they have in common?  Not much competition in bodegas? OK. They told him mass market. If he came up with a trio of frozen stuff (quesadillas, enchiladas, burritos) or of sauces & salsa - that might have been impressive. This wasn't.

That restaurant also wasn't all that clean, the unsafe machinery was visible from the dining room and that neighborhood is full of authentic Mexican (plus other Latin American cuisine).

While I give the guy props for busting his butt and achieving some success, I don't feel he will be happy being second banana.

Edited November 24, 2016 by Lola16

[KHenry14]

On 11/23/2016 at 3:58 PM, attica said:

I would totally be in the market looking for mole, just saying. And I'm so very very white. I'd eat that shit straight out the jar like nutella.

The problem with mole is that there are hundreds of types of Mole. It's very regional throughout Mexico, which makes it difficult to market the product. 

If I was doing another product it would be refried beans. 

[Kenz]

I Was totally puzzled by this show. Adelo has a little restaurant and makes tortillas for wholesale on the side. The show ends up with him being in charge of outsourcing three products which have enormous competition in the marketplace, Does he move to Los Angeles where everything seems to be centered, leaving his daughter behind in New York? Is his salsa really that great after it has been in a jar for a few months as opposed to tasting it freshly made? The packaging was terrible. If George Lopez is such an attraction, just name the stuff "George Lopez's Super Salsa" or something like that.  Is this the job that matches Adelo's talents? Why would Marcus want a Mexican food product line when there are so many out there already? I'm losing my interest in The Profit because there are so many holes in the explanation of things.

Edited to add: I also didn't buy the Sam's Club's buyers being interested in a small, untested brand. This is the kind of thing they pull a lot on the show. Big store buyers seem very skeptical, entrepreneur looks worried, ah, wait for it, buyers decide what the heck, let's try it out! Does Marcus bribe them?

Edited November 29, 2016 by Kenz

[ae2]

Spot on @Kenz 

Even in an episode relatively light on drama we get so few business details. When was the last time there was a focus on Marcus's Product-Process-People framework? Many of the episodes this season haven't checked off even one of those core principles.

Product? He created new products and changed the manufacturer. Did we get a conclusion whether they decided on the entrepreneur's corn recipe or if they settled for the manufacturer's flour recommendation? I probably missed that.

Process? Nothing needs to be said here...

People? The guy wasn't a marketing or branding genius, and had very questionable business skills. I suppose his cooking skills could be top notch, but a few episodes back Marcus showed us he puts no stock in cooking skills. There were no employees who really caught Marcus's attention.

So what is there? George Lopez and... that's about it.

On 11/23/2016 at 1:40 AM, Albino said:

My main issue is with the packaging. The drawing of 2 guys obviously worked well when the working name was "Dos Amigos" but it's like "Huh?" when the brand is "Ta Loco" or whatever it was. Also...I don't understand why they didn't leverage George Lopez's name on the packaging. That little caricature doesn't instantly telegraph George Lopez....it's a guy with a mustache. I could stare at that likeness for hours, and not make the connection. And then if by some supernatural intervention I did realize it was Lopez, I'd spend the next 20 years trying to figure out who the other guy is.

They mentioned that Ta Loco is a George Lopez catch phrase. (I didn't know that.) The caricature of Lopez and the Ta Loco name might stand out to someone who is familiar with George Lopez, but it is terrible branding if they are shooting for the mass market.

[clod]

let's sell chips and salsa.  really?    that's gringo-predictable.     almost funny.

 

what did they keep from the original business?   not much of anything.     the food production will be commercially "farmed out".  

need some good recipes?    have a small tasting contest, winners get $500 each.  done.

so why keep the guy?    

 

at the end, I don't know what value he would bring, to justify  33% equity.

[bunny52]

On ‎11‎/‎23‎/‎2016 at 0:30 AM, Christina said:

I didn't like Adelo and thought he was shady

I got that vibe a few times too.  Like he might turn up on "American Greed" some day.  And I have to say that George Lopez seemed completely clueless while the others were talking business, as though they were speaking Vulcan.  Hey, he's a comedian and doesn't have to be business-savvy, but his expression was priceless.

[mojito]

I thought it was humorous that Adelo didn't approve of Forteleza's using corn instead of corn powder, but what was the first characteristic he pointed out when asked what made his tortilla chips different? Using real corn.

This episode was completely celebrity-driven. George Lopez wanted to endorse a food and asked Marcus to help. (The caricature of Lopez was unrecognizable; his nose is much larger and his face is fatter.) Had it not been for Lopez, if Adelo had been able to get Marcus' attention at all, Marcus would have focused on the restaurant and in selling tortillas in a new product section of his restaurant. Then Sweet Pete could whip up some Mexican dulces and the cupcake company could come up with pan dulce with a twist. 

Maybe Marcus should go altruistic and become a business consultant in Cuba.