Insider Media Limited

A Nottingham-based entrepreneur whose business venture was rejected by the Dragons' Den investors has secured a supply deal with online grocer Ocado, Insider can reveal.

Marcela Flores-Newburn said her business, Rico Mexican Kitchen, would also start looking to export its products in the next few years after it secured financial backing from a Northamptonshire investment group.

Rico Mexican Kitchen, which specialises in producing Mexican sauces and beans, will begin supplying its products through Ocado.com in the autumn. Flores-Newburn said the deal was the first nationwide distribution contract the company had won.

"It will be very exciting to launch on Ocado," she said. "Hopefully, it the first national deal of several to come as we are currently in talks with several other major supermarkets."

Mexican native Flores-Newburn founded her business in Nottingham, where the business is now based. She appeared on Dragons' Den requesting £70,000 for a 20 per cent stage in her fledgling business, but was turned down by all four investors.

"I was definitely surprised that I didn't get any backing – I knew I had a good product and I knew my facts and figures. But the discussion wasn't as simple as it looked on the TV programme; we had a much more in-depth conversation where the idea of outsourcing my products came up, but I didn't think that would work," she said.

Days before the programme aired on the BBC, Flores-Newburn secured backing from a group of Northamptonshire investors. She said the six-figure sum would be used to implement a marketing and communications strategy, promotion and branding.

David Haycock, a director of the investment group, said: "We really believe in Rico Mexican Kitchen’s product range and in the work Marcela is doing, not only supporting the growers in Mexico and Britain, but also in making authentic Mexican food available to consumers. We are looking forward to helping her in her quest by funding what is necessary to get the brand and products out there."

Flores-Newburn, who currently sells her products in independent shops and delis in selected UK sites, said she hoped to be exporting her salsa range to foreign markets within four years.

"I want to make sure I have a good grasp of the UK market first", she said. "But within three or four years, once the marketing and branding has been worked on, then I would hope to become a global brand."