Local to Global: Puerto Rico’s Startups Take First Test at Plaza Las Américas

Necessity has always been the mother of invention, and for Puerto Rican entrepreneurs, those words ring especially true. Take Zázona Spices, a locally sourced spice brand that works with local farmers and distributors to craft one-of-a-kind culinary ingredients.

Cristty Ortiz and Jose Cardona had worked in the food industry for more than a decade when they noticed a gap in the market: premium cooking products made in Puerto Rico were hard to come by. So they embarked on an entrepreneurial journey that has brought them here, to the Plaza Las Américas hallway at the Travesía al Éxito Showcase, the final stage of the competition. The winning business will be announced on Nov. 10.

Passersby were able to learn about their variety of spices, such as the Taína Pumpkin Spice blend, made with locally sourced pumpkin seeds, or the Golden Milk, a rich blend of cumin, saffron, ginger and black pepper.

“We wanted to impact Puerto Rican lives because we knew that Puerto Rico has the potential to cultivate added-value products. For example, we mix our cinnamon with 100% Puerto Rican organic chocolate from Hacienda Jeanmarie in Aguada to create our Royal Hot Chocolate,” Ortiz said in an interview with Caribbean Business.

Their mission goes beyond creating premium products enjoyed by both professional chefs and everyday consumers. They also seek to uplift fellow local brands while remaining committed to environmental sustainability.

Zázona’s journey is the kind Caribbean Business follows closely: a company that starts small, sometimes as a startup, and grows through successive stages toward larger markets and, eventually, global reach.

Travesía al Éxito Empresarial, now in its sixth edition, is one rung on that ladder. Organized by Plaza Las Américas and Banco Popular (Popular), it is open to businesses with two to six years of operation, and this year’s five finalists emerged from ten semifinalists.

Alongside Zázona, they include New Adara Nails, One Bite Desserts, which makes miniature artisanal desserts, Crumb Pastries, a gluten-free bakery, and Verdelias, a seller of ornamental plants, according to Metro, a CB sister newspaper.

A cash prize worth more than gold

Zázona, for one, has set its sights on expanding into international markets, a goal Ortiz says could become a reality with the prize package from Plaza Las Américas and Popular, which includes $20,000 in seed capital.

The market they are eyeing is large. Arizton, a market research firm, estimates global spices and seasonings sales at about $24.5 billion in 2024 and projects roughly $34.2 billion by 2030, a growth rate of about 5.7% a year. Asia-Pacific holds the largest share, according to the firm, while the organic segment is expected to grow fastest as consumers favor products without artificial additives, a positioning that favors small producers with a clear origin story.

Metro describes Zázona as a Puerto Rican brand of single-origin spices, and food is one of the DDEC’s priority export sectors.

“To be able to give this opportunity to rising businesses makes us proud. We are the number one commercial space on the island, in terms of traffic and sales, which makes this an amazing opportunity for a company who is just starting out,” said Edwin Tavárez, Plaza Las Américas General Manager.

Plaza Las Américas is one of the largest shopping center in the Caribbean, with about 1.9 million square feet and more than 300 stores.

If selected, the winning company has the chance to call Plaza Las Américas home for a year, operating a cart at the mall without paying a dime in rent for the first six months, followed by a payment of 10% of gross sales during the remaining six months.

It is an opportunity that could easily catapult a startup to the next level of its operation.

If local brands can win shoppers in Puerto Rico’s largest mall, the next test is whether they can win buyers in Madrid, Santo Domingo or New York.

Over at New Adara Nails, a vegan, PETA-approved nail product company, the cash prize is just the icing on the cake. For Jaretzy Reyes, the real value has been the mentorship received, along with the opportunity to showcase their products in the mall’s busy hallway.

“Connecting with our clients has been a huge game changer. Getting to meet them and understand their needs gives us confirmation for what we’re doing,” Reyes said.

When Reyes noticed that regular gel nail polish gave her and her daughter an allergic reaction, she found very few options that did not contain TPO and HEMA, chemical ingredients common in gel nail polishes.

The European Union banned TPO in cosmetics on Sept. 1, 2025, and restricts HEMA in nail products to professional use, with a label warning about allergic reactions.

Creating gel nail polish free of harsh chemicals isn’t cheap, but for Reyes and her husband and business partner, Elier Rivera, the investment is worth it. The company was created a little more than four years ago, and its products are now sold in Beauty Supply stores and more than 10 pharmacies across the island.

Like spices, the global market they are entering is large and shifting in their direction. Fortune Business Insights valued the global nail polish market at about $18.9 billion in 2025 and projects about $34.7 billion by 2034, growth of roughly 7% a year. North America holds the largest share, at about 32%, followed by Asia-Pacific at about 30% and Europe at about 28%. Gel is the second-largest product type, with about 27% of the market, and the firm cites rising demand for vegan, cruelty-free and “free-from” formulations.

For a brand built around avoiding TPO and HEMA, Europe’s rules could become a selling point abroad. Exporting there would still require meeting the EU Cosmetics Regulation, which, among other requirements, calls for a safety assessment and a responsible person based in the EU.

Creating Opportunities

For Popular, identifying opportunities that provide entrepreneurs with the tools, connections and platforms they need to grow has always been, and will continue to be, part of its mission.

“The quality and potential of the finalists reflect the talent, creativity and determination that distinguish our entrepreneurs. We believe in supporting them as they work to build sustainable businesses and contribute to Puerto Rico’s economic development,” said Corina Camacho, First Vice President of Commercial Lending at Banco Popular.

The selected winner will also receive guidance on identifying additional sources of support, eight business mentoring sessions sponsored by Popular, and a spot in the Centro para Emprendedores‘ Next 2027 program, which includes educational workshops, personalized guidance and technical assistance focused on strengthening the winner’s digital presence and developing its corporate identity.

Puerto Rico’s local-to-global moment

Overall, Puerto Rico wants to be a place where companies can start small, scale up and go global, and the building blocks have been set in motion. Invest Puerto Rico, the island’s investment promotion agency, says local startups drew more than $520 million in private equity and venture capital in 2022, and that more than 15,000 people have joined entrepreneurship initiatives led or backed by the Puerto Rico Science, Technology & Research Trust.

On the export side, the Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC) says its Trade and Export Program is expanding trade fairs and business missions in North America, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, with food, technology, pharmaceuticals, advanced manufacturing and consumer goods as priority sectors.

The agency’s 2025 missions included New York’s Summer Fancy Food Show and Mexico’s Expo ANTAD, and it has committed to one international commercial event a month. Participating companies project more than $10 million in sales over the following 12 months, according to the DDEC.

The agency also runs a “Puerto Rico Going Global” event for entrepreneurs who are just starting to export.

Between the first sale and the first shipment lies a gap that programs like Travesía are designed to fill. Popular says its StartUp Popular program, launched in 2015, has financed 273 companies with more than $9.2 million and over 6,000 hours of mentoring, while its ScaleUp Popular accelerator invested $1.4 million in 11 organizations in 2023 and supported 642 companies.

Travesía adds something those programs do not: a year of real retail exposure in the island’s largest mall.

What happens after Nov. 10 is where the local-to-global question gets answered. A cart at Plaza Las Américas validates a product with island shoppers, and seed capital and mentoring fund the next step.

Export readiness requires more: production capacity, regulatory compliance, packaging and distribution that can reach markets such as the Puerto Rican diaspora on the U.S. mainland, the Dominican Republic or Spain, destinations of recent and planned DDEC trade missions. In that sense, the finalists are early tests of an island strategy.

If local brands can win shoppers in Puerto Rico’s largest mall, the next test is whether they can win buyers in Madrid, Santo Domingo or New York.