MANBA Surviving the Dragons' Den

Stanley Dumornay, CEO

Stanley Dumornay, CEO

Dumornay-Delis Dumornay-Delis Montreal, QC. Montreal, QC.

SURVIVING THE Dragons’ Den SURVIVING THE Dragons’ Den

By Declan Winston Ramsaran

“You’re totally on trend, spicy products - spicy honey, spicy peanut butter. This is absolutely HOT right now! You should be able to sell this all over the place I really do love your product ”

- Arlene Dickinson, Dragons’ Den

If you are hearing about Manba for the first time, you ’ re in good company. Manba was also new to the dragons on Dragons’ Den, and when they first tasted it - they loved it!

Stanley Dumornay is the CEO of Dumornay-Delis, a specialty nut butter manufacturer based in Montreal, QC They make a Haitian-inspired, spicy peanut butter called, Manba You read that right, spicy peanut butter

The largest concentration of Haitians living in Canada are in la belle province; Quebec. This is understandable as the official language of Haiti is French Quebec was the ideal market to launch Manba in Canada

“My business partner Jason Delis and I built the company out of Montreal and we have a good presence here in and throughout Quebec We're now expanding in Ontario and other provinces within Canada,“ says Stanley.

Manba is currently available at Loblaws, Maxi, Atlantic Superstores, Real Canadian Superstore, No Frills and several other retailers...

Appearing on Dragons’ Den was a real eye opener for Stanley and his business partner Jason.

Although the duo were having a degree of encouraging success before going on the popular show, they learned firsthand how ferocious the dragons can be when it comes to business

Stanley moved to New York to attend university as an undergrad student and he could not find Manba anywhere. It wasn’t until he was doing his MBA at HECMontreal did the idea to make and distribute Manba find its way into a business plan.

The smiling CEO recalls happy childhood memories eating Manba almost every day, as it is a staple on the Caribbean island of Haiti

Manba is currently available at Loblaws, Maxi, Atlantic Superstores, Real Canadian Superstore, No Frills and several other retailers with more being added in the months ahead.

With a great business story, significant revenue potential, and a delicious product already in stores, surely the dragons made a deal?

The dragons loved the taste of Manba, but when Stanley and Jason presented their business pitch, the dragons lost their appetite

Fiery questions from the dragons about volume of sales and some business operations left Stanley and Jason burning to respond in a way that would win back the dragons’ once friendly demeanour.

Even though they had prepared for weeks to meet the dragons, some of their answers were just not hot enough to walk away with a deal on that episode

ALL WAS NOT LOST

Team Manba left Dragons’ Den with lessons learned, new business relationships and a chance to tell their story on national television

Since leaving the show, Stanley and Jason have implemented some significant business changes to address the concerns raised by the dragons

Dumornay-Delis now has over 40 Manba inspired recipes on their website, www.manba.ca

The team continues to find fun ways to tell the Manba story including, partnering with chefs to create unique recipes with the delicious flavours of Manba. Building this business from Montreal is really exciting, as the Montreal food scene is quite vibrant.

In 2023, Montreal restaurants dominated Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants List with 27 eateries on this annual ranking and Vin Mon Lapin restaurant, in Montreal’s Petite Italie, winning the top spot

Dumornay-Delis now has over 40 Manba inspired recipes on their website, www manba ca, including some that are perfect for the holidays like;

GROWTH PLANS

Like most Canadian entrepreneurs, Stanley has eyes on the massive U.S. market and has already registered an operating company there. His team is preparing for a 2024 launch in Florida

The U S is home to the largest Haitian migrant population in the world, with over 1,100,000 Haitian-American citizens living primarily in Florida or New York

“As I talk to different entrepreneurs, a lot of them are going into the U S at the same time they are developing their businesses here in Canada. I would like to do both.

Candy Cane Chocolate & Spicy Peanut Butter Cookies and the must try, Mini Manba Vegan Cheesecakes

Robert Herjavec holding a jar of Manba on Dragons’ Den

Robert Herjavec holding a jar of Manba on Dragons’ Den

The U S is our biggest trading partner and the regulations are very flexible, the barriers to entry are low. Depending on what industry you ' re in, I find that it's an incredible opportunity to market your products at scale and have meaningful business impact. So I wouldn't necessarily say that it's one or the other, Canada vs the U S I think as much as possible, exploiting both markets could be a winning formula for entrepreneurs,” Stanley says

NEW BRANDING FOR U.S. MARKET

The Dumornay-Delis team developed new branding for the U.S. market that is being registered at the time we go to print. They have applied for the trademark of the name, the word mark and the logo. The U.S. brand is called, Oulala.

“The idea is that Oulala would be an umbrella brand for products that we will be launching, in addition to the spicy peanut butter Our new products will be Haitian inspired because we have a very rich gastronomic heritage Very, very rich cuisine,” Stanley tells us

OUR MISSION

“Manba is the first of many products to come. The idea is to take the best that the developing world has to offer and bring it to first world markets. So initially, our target market is primarily the Haitian diaspora. What we want to accomplish via Manba and our other products is to give Haitians a way to reconnect with Haiti,” shares Stanley

Stanley continues, “If you know anything about Haitians, they love Haiti, in spite of all the craziness that's going on there They love Haiti, they love their culture

We want Manba and the other products we add, to allow Haitians to have the sense of nostalgia and help them travel back to Haiti through a jar of Manba or a jar of another Haitian product

The other thing we want to do is to really help Haitians have a sense of pride that a product from Haiti can be on the shelves at the big- chain supermarkets, like other ethnic products from Asia, India or Eastern Europe.

Our other target market is non-Haitians People from other ethnic backgrounds who are foodies that appreciate exotic flavours and are willing to explore other cuisines When we do a show like, The One Of A Kind, 95% of the 90,000 people who visit and taste our products end up buying and we sell thousands of jars of Manba Those customers are not Haitians, but once they

taste our product, they immediately fall in love with it, and adopt it as a favourite staple So that's our mission Our mission is we want to help non-Haitians discover these wonderful products from Haiti

Our vision is that Mamba will be in every pantry in Canada and the U S and that it will be as we say in French, un incontournable, which means that you can't go without it,” said Stanley

WHAT‘S YOUR WHY?

”I want to do good I want to have an impact and that's what drives me. My why is rooted primarily in this sense of purpose that I have. I am a person of faith. I'm a strong believer, I'm a Christian. My beliefs really guide my life choices. I believe that I am put on this earth to do something with meaning,” Stanley said

“I love being an entrepreneur I love being a businessman, but that's not what defines me And so I want to be successful, but my life is not going to be over if I'm not successful

I know that I have intrinsic value as a human being, as an image bearer of God who created me. My confidence comes from that first and foremost.

Secondly, you got to love people, you gotta respect people And so whoever I'm dealing with, I approach people with respect and love That's really my guiding principle Everybody deserves respect Everybody deserves love

Someone said that, ‘the difference between a manager and a leader is that after you ' ve spent time with a leader, you walk away feeling important. But after you ' ve spent time with a manager you walk away feeling that they are important.’ “I think that's key after you spend time with people, do they walk away feeling important, or do they walk away feeling that you are important?”

“And and I think that's so key after you spend time with people, do they walk away feeling important, or do they walk away feeling that you are important?”

Stanley Dumornay, CEO of Dumornay-Delis with business partner Jason Stanley Dumornay-Delis with business partner Jason Delis pitching Manba on popular reality TV show, Dragons’ Den Delis pitching popular TV show, Dragons’ Den

MANBA LEADERSHIP SECRETS

“I think it was Zig Ziglar who said, ’You don't build a business - you build people and then people build the business.’

I really believe in empowering people, so I don't micromanage I identify talent, I define clearly what the objective and the expectations are - and I let people loose

I give them latitude to make mistakes because that's how people grow But, I want them to be confident and take initiative So that's definitely one thing I do.

The other thing I do is that I bring people into my process.

It's so easy and so tempting to make a decision all by myself and then inform people of the decision.

So one thing I do is I bring people into the brainstorming session so that they not only have buy-in, but also people can grow and learn from the process and also develop confidence that they were part of the solution

As business owners, I think it is a reflex to want to do everything yourself If you want something done right - do it yourself That’s how the saying goes What I am slowly learning is that I should stop trying to do everything and to let go more Admittedly, this is a slow work in progress for me.

MINDSET SHIFT

Shifting the mindset from business owner to entrepreneur includes a realization that if the daily operation can’t run without you - you ’ ve just built yourself a job

Our team has learned to become very adaptable We get the information and we figure out how to adapt, how to align to current trends within our limits

We've been looking at ways to improve the efficiency in our production and reduce our cost. I'm not at liberty to make public all that we ' re doing.

The real value is building an operation that can run without you - but still benefits from your strategic leadership and governance, ” says Stanley

“I think one of the keys to be successful as an entrepreneur is the ability to pivot You can't be so set on your course that you don't allow room for change How often did we all hear that word, pivot during the COVID-19 pandemic?

LEARN TO ADAPT

But, this is a pursuit that we have engaged in, which is to reduce our cost of production We've also begun exploring other formats of Manba that consumers will find more economical, and offer more value for what they're paying,” explains Stanley

The spicy peanut butter duo are not stuck on one tactical path They are looking at their business environment and adapting Who knows, after Stanley has earned it, maybe one day he will be a dragon on Dragons’ Den.

Canadian-Haitian Trivia

Did you know that as of 2022, there were over 140,000 Quebecers of Haitian descent living in the province making it one of the larger non-European ethnic groups in the country.

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The Governor General of Canada from 2005 to 2010, The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, is Haitian.

In 2022, bilateral trade between Canada and Haiti was valued at $159 million CAD

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