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HOMEMADE SALSA
Salsa has nearly surpassed ketchup as the favored condiment in the United States. Typically a no-fat, no-sugar food, traditional salsa is easy to make and easy to vary, so you can be creative with it.
Salsa’s main ingredients are tomatoes, peppers, onions, and, typically, cilantro. After a lot of chopping, you have a great dip for chips or sauce for fish, eggs, or whatever else you feel like slathering it on!
You don’t have to grow your own tomatoes, peppers, and onions to make your own salsa. You can purchase them from a reliable source, including the grocery store. If you plan to make a lot of salsa, go to the local wholesale market if there is one within driving distance. You will be able to buy a lot more tomatoes, peppers, and onions for your money.
Learn to buy according to what you can actually produce. You want to use your vegetables as soon as possible, but not more than a day or two after you purchase them. Consumers expect freshly made foods to be made from the best ingredients, and that includes vegetables that haven’t been hanging around.
THINGS TO CONSIDER
You need a lot of stamina to work in the perishable foods industry! Salsa has become popular, and you will need to plan for a lot of competition, some of it already established. You might want to find some way to stand out from the crowd, although if your salsa is excellent, word of mouth will get you started.
Also, you must learn proper canning techniques in order to prevent the bacteria Clostridium botulinum from growing in your salsa. This is critical, because this bacteria produces a deadly toxin.
HOW DO YOU WANT TO SPEND YOUR DAY?
You won’t spend all of your time preparing salsa, although there is a lot of chopping and dicing in your future if you plan to make salsa your business. You will also need to bottle, label, market, and deliver your product. And no matter what you do for a business, there are some bookkeeping details to attend to.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
You will a commercial-sized food processor to chop your vegetables. You’ll also need stainless steel bowls in which to mix your salsa. Have at the ready the right containers—you can choose to have different sizes or keep it simple and just make one size all the time.
Be sure to have a good supply of labels; you don’t want to have salsa ready to go only to find that you have to wait two days for more labels to be printed!
You will need to have a vehicle to deliver your salsa (probably packed in coolers), although whatever vehicle you own should do it unless you become so big you need a large, refrigerated truck!
MARKETING ANGLE
Marketing salsa can be as time consuming as making it. However, even the biggest grocery stores are looking to add locally-made products to their shelves. Many have created special sections in their stores for organic and natural foods, as well as locally grown and made products such as breads, bakery items, and things such as salsa.
A fun and attractive label will be eye-catching and help your salsa stand out from what is becoming a crowd. Also, adding a small booklet of ideas on how to use your salsa will turn customers into repeat customers.
Consider packaging carefully. Plastic containers are more cost effective than glass. Many homemade salsas are made and sold as fresh: They need to be refrigerated, and they have a modest shelf life. Be clear with your distributors about how you will deal with unsold inventory. It can take a while to get a handle on how much they will sell, but as is the case with most fresh perishables, it is better to have them sell out than provide them with too much inventory that you have to take back and toss.
NICE TOUCH
A nice touch for your salsa business is to make it out of your own “organically grown” produce. Tomatoes, onions, and peppers are quite easy to grow.
EXPANSION POSSIBILITIES
Your expansion possibilities include adding different kinds of salsa to your offerings. Where there is salsa, there needs to be chips; you could also make your own tortilla chips.
WORDS TO KNOW
Salsa:In Spanish, salsa simply means sauce. Americans think of it specifically as the chopped vegetable dip served with Mexican foods.
Cilantro: The leaves of the coriander herb used to flavor many salsas.
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