Alex Retodo

Owner, The Lumpia Company

San Francisco

Alex grew up as the youngest of 5 boys in the Bay Area of immigrant parents from the Philippines. He had a loving family and his first passions were sports, baseball cards, R&B music, but most of all, his mother's cooking, especially her lumpia. Lumpia is a deep-fried handcrafted crispy pastry that is traditionally filled with vegetables, meats, and spices. It’s the most enjoyable Filipino appetizers that’s universally loved by people from all walks of life. Alex's mom started the first ever lumpia booth at Alex’s annual school carnival in Hayward, California in the 1980s. The lumpia booth was wildly popular with Filipinos and non-Filipinos alike because it was the only place where you could buy Filipino food all year.

Alex gained popularity as the lumpia kid because he would sneak under the table and grab you free lumpias if he liked you so you could bypass the hour long line. Through the power of lumpias, a broad community gained a whole new appreciation of Filipino culture and Alex learned how community could be built through lumpias made with TLC. After attending San Jose State University with a degree in marketing and spending several years as a producer in the music & entertainment industry, Alex re-ignited his passion for crafting lumpia and sharing his lumpia with the world.

Alex created a lane for himself, proving the quality of his concept at several street food festivals, Mad Oak Bar and now he is operating The Lumpia Company take out window in uptown Oakland. It wasn’t long after that he caught the eye of pop culture icon E40. Eventually they would become business partners. Alex’s appeal doesn’t rest with his association. He continues to grow his brand [via grass roots campaign] with his 20K+ social media following with fun, delicious food videos.