Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Maria Silva. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Maria , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

To be honest, what I sell is my house. I started with 5 flavors Mild Tomato (my son favorite), Mild Tomatillo (my daughter’s favorite) Hot Tomato my social salsa when friends come over we snack, drink and gossip is one of my best sellers, Green Jalapeno and Red Jalapeno my taco Salsa. As a mom it was very important what I was feeding my kids. I wanted a salsa that my kids were going to be able to eat and I was also able to cook with, and with all fresh ingredients with no additives or preservatives. As growing up that’s how we made it. All fresh we didn’t add sugars and all of the crazy stuff you find in other brands, so yes, I made my salsa thinking of my kids. Nothing out of a can or powders. I always wanted to eat salsa and I was so busy running around with my kids I didn’t have the time to make it all the time, so to all the mild salsas, I added Green Jalapeno or Red Jalapeno to the mild ones to make them hot for me, so we all can eat out of the same flavors in different ways so the more you mix my salsa the better they taste and we… or should I say, I was happy.

Now I have 13 different flavors using different peppers. My goal is for the customer to taste the flavor of the pepper. I don’t want them to think about tomatoes when they think about Beba’s Pfresh. It is about the flavor of each pepper I grew up with. My salsa is very traditional. It is an everyday salsa. They are not super hot but enjoyable hot. I want Beba’s Pfresh to add flavor to your plate or dish and not something hot that you are not going to be able to eat.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hello, my name is Maria Silva. I am originally from San Luis Potosi, Mexico. I lived in Pflugerville, Tx. for 25 years and recently moved to Elgin, Tx. I am the creator of Beba’s Pfresh Salsa. Why Beba Pfresh Salsa? Well because it was a hobby at the time and it was fun. I couldn’t name it Maria because there are too many of us. That’s why I stayed with my nickname Beba, wierd, I know, I thought it was ugly but remember this was just for fun. Pfresh because I was living in Pflugerville and everything in my salsa jar is all fresh ingredients so I thought that Pfresh would represent both, and Salsa because it is a Salsa not a hot sauce. And that’s how Beba’s Pfresh Salsa was born.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

In my culture we love our family and friends to come over so we always invited family and friends on the weekends and we would cook for everybody, rice, beans, brisket etc… Friends loved our cooking. It got to the point where our friends were bringing their containers to take home rice, beans and salsa. My husband at the time tricked me by asking me to make salsa for work and I just made a batch and sent it. Didn’t think anything of it. Until that night my ex came home with a trophy in his hand and I asked, what is that for? He handed it to me and said, “Is it yours…” mine? I asked ” Yes, you won it in the salsa contest today” since then his co-workers kept asking for salsa. One day my daughter was sick and I was at home bored and I decided just to make a little bit of salsa and send it to my ex husband at work. By the following week the list increased significantly and working for the State at the time I knew that they had to be rules and regulations so I contacted the Health Department. I didn’t want his friends to get sick, also I didn’t know how to do canning, the lady from the Health Department taught me over the phone how to can my salsa and after getting all the permits and kitchen I was in business!! Yes… My ex-husband, co-workers and my daughter convinced me to do it! My first Farmers Market was at Pflugerville Farmers Markets but I liked it too much and kept getting into more Farmers Markets, shows and local stores. Soon I had friends and family helping me out at the kitchen and markets.

As a mom I was getting too busy with practices, traveling for tournaments, work, markets and shows on the weekends so I stopped working for the State. I worked around my kids clock and did my salsa on the side. A few weeks ago my daughter finished her Masters and my son will be a paramedic soon, he is in the army and is working as a medic in the EMS.

I can say that it has been around a year since I finally started working full time with Beba’s Pfresh Salsa. I feel that I have done my best with my kids, now it is my turn for Beba’s Pfresh and I to see how far we can go, we are just now starting. Beba’s Pfresh and I!!!

I am very thankful for family and friends that have and continue helping me with Beba’s Pfresh.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I went to the store and I spent $16.48 for my very first batch of 5 jars. I saved the money to buy more because the next day it was 10 jars and by the following week it was 40 jars. Until now, is just like a clock, it goes in circles. Until the present Beba’s Pfresh Salsa has been self funding, no loans, investors or anything like that, Is just Beba’s Pfresh and I.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bebapfreshsalsa.com
• Instagram: @bebapfreshsal.com
• Facebook: Beba’s Pfresh Salsa

Image Credits

Myself