How Masienda uses business cash back rewards on innovation

Innovation and adaptability are fundamental traits for any successful small business. Masienda, a Los Angeles-based masa supply chain company, uses the rewards it earns from its Capital One Spark Cash Plus business card to fuel innovation and adapt to new challenges.

Ever wonder how tortillas, tostadas and tamales are made? The answer is masa. 

Masa is stone-ground corn flour created by soaking corn in limewater, then washing and drying it to make the final product. When masa is cooked, it’s transformed into the dough that holds together tortillas for tacos, burritos and even more of your favorite Mexican-inspired dishes. Masienda, a supply chain business that distributes masa, helps bring these flavors to the table.

Jorge Gaviria created Masienda after learning that most commercialized corn originates in massive industrialized crops grown from genetically modified seeds and treated with pesticides. Gaviria made it his mission to trace corn back to its nutritious and flavorful roots in Oaxaca, Mexico. He met with farmers who’ve been growing heirloom corn for generations and decided to preserve and expand that agricultural and cultural tradition by building a masa supply chain around it. 

Today, Masienda connects hundreds of independent heirloom farmers in Oaxaca with restaurants, chefs and consumers worldwide.

Masienda’s mission is to reinvent the masa supply chain to help the world enjoy better-tasting corn products. Developing new products and services with the help of business cash back rewards from its Capital One Spark Cash Plus card helps it do just that.

Gaviria strives to educate his customers and provides information about the masa-creation process, delicious recipes and ways to explore newly developed products. When the pandemic caused supply chain disruptions and uncertainty across many industries, Gaviria took measures to expand his direct-to-consumer business by developing new products and educational materials—providing people with the opportunity and resources to create masa at home.

Pivoting his business was essential to ensuring cash flow for independent farmers in Mexico—rather than big farming—despite losing staff due to COVID-19, as well as helping overcome the pandemic’s impact on the wholesale restaurant side of his business. 

Even with the challenges of the pandemic, Gaviria was able to continue doing research and development thanks to the unlimited 2% cash back from his Spark Cash Plus card. As a small-business owner trying to set his business up for success, Gaviria knows that R&D investment is necessary to create new products and services that can help generate future revenue streams for his business.

With the additional revenue stream earned from his Spark Cash Plus rewards, Gaviria developed new products like the Molinito. The Molinito is a tabletop masa mill, designed for grinding corn into masa right at home. Traditionally, stone masa mills have been designed for large-scale factories because of their cumbersome size, making them inaccessible for home cooks and professional chefs. 

Reinvesting with Capital One Spark Cash Plus has allowed Masienda to bring the tradition of masa to the everyday household while improving the business’s bottom line. 

Unlimited 2% cash back isn’t the only Spark Cash Plus feature Gaviria is a big fan of. He says that his business benefits from having a card with no preset spending limit, which gives him purchasing power that adapts to his business.

“The dance we used to do every month with our old credit card in maxing it out then trying to quickly pay it off was a distraction for our business,” said Gaviria. “Our new card is so much more efficient, and we don’t have to worry that it can’t meet our needs as we grow.”

As Gaviria thinks about the future growth of his business, he’s also excited that he can add employee cards for free and earn unlimited 2% cash back from all the purchases made on those cards.

Learn more about how Spark Cash Plus can help your business and how it’s helped other business owners.