Bananas have been the best ally of King Cone, a company that offers employment and has already won two awards in Guayaquil

Editor’s note: This story was supposed to be exclusive to our subscribers, but as a contribution to those who aspire to undertake and improve the country’s economy, we offer it open to all our audience.

One trip sparked the imagination of Hugo Armendáriz in 2016, and it was in New York, in the United States, where he saw ice cream cones, but he wanted to see them differently in Ecuador. Then he thought he could make them with bananas, but with a different filling. And there he has already designed a business with a Creole version.

“It was a couple of cones waffles like types of ice cream, but more crispy and filled with fried chicken with different sauces. And I wanted to catch that job here in Guayaquil because at the time I had not seen anything like it,” says Armendáriz, 30, who loves to cook.

He tried with his dad first and it didn’t work out. Later with a banana, but it was not the first attempt, but after four months he made a cornetwhich in the beginning was not as crispy as it is now.

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So it was launched and released in 2018 by King Cone, brand of green cones filled with chicken, ribs, pork loin, shrimp with morosa and more combinations under the image of a monkey, one of the characteristic species of the Coast.

And in those first months, in his only store, he sold eight cones a day, which already represented great joy to Armendáriz. However, there were moments of sadness to the point of not continuing: “I ran the business badly, I didn’t know how profitable it would be and many times I wanted to throw in the towel.”

The business continued and gained more and more customers until 2020 arrived, and with it the COVID-19 pandemic. By then, Armendáriz already had three assistants, and with a lot of trouble, in order for King Cone to continue, he had to stay with one person.

“It was very difficult for me to survive and deal with the situation. I had been in the business for barely a year and it was a very hard blow for me because it was difficult for me to tell the employee I had at the time that I couldn’t give him a job because they didn’t provide the numbers. They didn’t give statistics that they could have someone,” he assures and adds that they, together with another person, were the ones who prepared and sold cones, even at home.

Although it wasn’t always like that and then everything changed. “Time passed, and the business grew. And now I have five employees,” points out Armendáriz, who points out that banana cones have become so popular that between 80 and 90 cones are charged per day. “I think the texture of the green helped me,” says the entrepreneur.

Among his achievements is his team, a fundamental part, but not the only one. This year they participated in the Raíces gastronomic fair and won two awards.

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“We won a silver culinary star and an award for innovation. It is the biggest achievement that means a lot to me for my personal growth. That’s why undertaking means taking risks, growing as a person. Doing something I love, doing something I’ve always wanted to do, means many things, but yes, the main thing: sacrifice and perseverance,” says Armendáriz.

And he continues: “If you start something, well, there will be obstacles that will always get in the way, but you always have to keep your mind high and continue with the dreams you want.”

Armendáriz’s persistence gave him the push he needed and today he is proud of the feedback he receives from his clients. “Customers mean a lot because I depend on them, on feedback. I always ask: how was the product?, how was the service?, how did they feel?” says the entrepreneur.

Banana cones are about $4.50-$6. They are assembled in a mold that rolls the product, and cooking is key to the texture. “For me, the question of starting a business was a bit difficult and complicated, because I lost my job and I always wanted to find a way to have something of my own, to start something personal to progress and, well, among those, I always liked to cook, experiment,” he says.

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Armendáriz is inspired by his family, his wife, his parents, so that he does not falter on the way to maintaining his job. “The inspiration is in the desire to be better every day, in the desire to show a good, fresh product. And more than anything according to the taste of the clients. I see my business in the future as something big, maybe a franchise,” he points out.

The entrepreneur also dreams of exporting and that the origin of King Cone is known. “Currently, I live from my work, it is my source of work, and with that, thank God, I have to continue. I would like to export the product, but first start in supermarkets. A cornet or some product that is based on banana, but with the name and brand of King Cone”, he believes.