We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Salsa Queen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Salsa Queen below.
Salsa Queen, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s jump right into the heart of things. Outsiders often think businesses or industries have much larger profit margins than they actually do – the reason is that outsiders are often unaware of the biggest challenges to profitability in various industries – what’s the biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?
We deal with fresh salsas so we are subject to wild swings with ingredient pricing. In the winter, production of tomatoes and other raw ingredients move to Mexico or warmer climates so we see a significant price change, especially as transportation costs (e.g., diesel) is so volatile. We have experienced a doubling in prices at times and it is something we have to absorb. For us to push through a price increase to the stores, it takes 90 – 120 days so it is a difficult issue to manage.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
This month (May) is a milestone since it is our 10-year anniversary of Salsa Queen! I came to the US as a teenager and never finished high school or had any work experience. So, when I found myself divorced as a single mother needing to provide for 7 children, I knew a minimum wage job wouldn’t work and I had to do something different.
I’ve also loved cooking and started when I was 8 years old so when it came time to start a business, salsa made sense. Cooking is how we show love in Mexico and I wanted to do something that spoke my culture.
At first, salsas were made around the kitchen and sold at local farmers markets where I built-up a loyal following because of the premium quality and unique taste profiles. We’ve just keep expanding and growing, but always keeping our focus on high-quality products, which our customers love. In 10 short years, Salsa Queen is now in nearly 1500 stores across 30 states by staying true to our products and customers. Taste our salsas once and you’ll be hooked forever!
How’d you meet your business partner?
My husband, Jim Birch, and I started dating a few years before Salsa Queen was born. He’s always been more of an entrepreneur and planted the seed inside of me. I probably would not have started Salsa Queen without his example. From Day 1, he has been supportive of my dream to create and grow a salsa company. In fact, he quit his tech job four years ago and joined me full-time in really growing the company.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
I started the company with a tax refund. I had a choice to either spend the refund on the kids or invest it into equipment and containers. It was a gamble, but it was the only option to really start the business. The first day of the farmers market confirmed that this could be a viable business. I took 100 containers and sold out within 2 hours! I had the first $500 I had ever made in my hand and realized this could provide an income for me and my kids.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.salsaqueen.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/salsa.queen
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FreshSalsaQueen
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/salsa-queen
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SalsaQueen_Real
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SalsaQueen
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/salsa-queen-west-valley-city?osq=salsa+queen