Baking mixes include almost everything a home chef needs to whip up a quick homemade dessert, right there in the box (save for an egg, some oil, or other simple additions). Ava Lichauco founded baking mix company Oh So Easy because she felt those nearly all-inclusive products were still missing something—namely, unique, global flavors drawn from other cultures.

To learn more, we connected with Lichauco, founder/CEO of Oh So Easy.

Jenni Spinner: Could you please tell us about yourself?

Ava Lichauco: I started my career in investment banking, then worked for a bunch of tech startups afterwards in finance and operations roles. I knew I wanted to work on something that was more tangible (I was desperate to get out of IB and applied to various jobs in CPG, but no one would take me without any prior CPG experience).

However, around COVID, I got the opportunity to come in early at a small skincare startup as its COO, and that’s really where my CPG career started. Since then, I’ve worked with and consulted for various CPG brands, most notably Experiment Beauty, where I ended up being the chief of staff. I helped them raise their $3 million+ seed round from Greycroft and helped them land Sephora last year.

However, I’ve had the idea for Oh So Easy for around five years. I patiently waited to get as much experience as I can in the startup CPG land before starting my own CPG business.

JS: Please share your perspective on the baking mix market and what you felt was missing from that part of the store before Oh So Easy came along.

AL: I’ve been a lifelong amateur baker and consumer of baking mixes. My mom (who has since passed) and I would always dress up our Betty Crocker and Ghirardelli baking mixes, making them more flavorful and fun. The inspiration behind Oh So Easy came from my love of baking mixes and anything convenient. I’m also Filipina and lived around the world (Philippines, Hawaii, Singapore), and I’ve always been fairly adventurous with my palate and have loved trying new foods. Oh So Easy is a love letter to my third-culture identity.

There has been little to no innovation in the baking aisle aside from “healthy washing” it, and consumer feedback told me that consumers don’t care much about “healthifying” their desserts…they just want them to be delicious.  

JS: What is Oh So Easy all about in a nutshell?

AL: Oh So Easy is a dessert brand bringing global flavors to your kitchen conveniently and deliciously. Our products are “The Classics You Haven’t Tasted… Yet!^”

JS: Launching a company is a lot of hard work—can you talk about that, lessons you learned along the way, and why it’s all been worth it?

AL: I’ve always been very entrepreneurial and independent-minded, and I knew for a while that I’ve always wanted to start my own thing. It’s definitely a lot of hard work but it’s work I find deeply satisfying and rewarding! The biggest lesson is to always have a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, Plan D, etc., because sh*t will hit the fan at the worst possible times and you need to try to be as prepared as possible.

Another lesson I learned is to hire thoughtfully. This company takes up a lot of time and energy, and in the near past, I’ve honestly hired out of desperation (I saw someone who was excited to work on the project and thought their excitement would take them a long way…I was wrong). It may be painful now to wait for the right hire, but trust me, hiring the wrong person will be much more painful…

JS: Then, each mix is chef-crafted—could you tell us how you facilitate that, and why it’s important to you?

AL: For our first three SKUs (and the next two SKUs that are launching this year and next year), they all started in my brain… They’re based on flavor profiles I not only enjoy, but a lot of people also enjoy. Before I launched Oh So Easy, I reached out to 1000+ people with a survey to evaluate their relationship with baking mixes and desserts, and I have validated my product ideas from that survey. Once I’ve personally finalized my ideal product pipeline, I research chefs whom I’d like to work with and work my network to see how I can meet them. For instance, I met the venerable Pichet Ong via Amanda Hesser (founder of Food52), whom I’ve known for a while! 

JS: Please tell us about your existing flavors and the chefs behind them.

AL: Miso Caramel Brownie—this one is a classic take on a sweet and salty treat. I had to get Pichet Ong involved in this project because he is the OG third-culture baker and has been incorporating savory ingredients in desserts for decades.

Spiced Yellow Cake—this one is an homage to Palestine. Fadi Odeh specializes in cake recipes, and he came up with a cake that is so deeply personal and representative of his Palestinian upbringing. It’s such a beautiful, thoughtful, and unexpected cake!! Everyone is always wowed when they taste it.

Ube Blondie—this one is my personal baby. I had the vision for this because I absolutely LOVE blondies and I always zhush them up whenever I make them because I find the blondie base recipe itself pretty boring. I’m Filipina and am absolutely obsessed with Ube, so I was tinkering in my kitchen one day and made a pretty damned good v1 of our Ube Blondie. I handed it off to a chef partner (Bianca Fernandez) to perfect it, and voila! Here she is. 

JS: What’s next for Oh So Easy—expansion plans, new retail partners, additional products?

AL: There’s a new product coming out in fall 2026, slowly but surely expanding into retail (and regional grocers at that as well)! Also raising a pre-seed round right now to fund our retail expansion and overall growth. 

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