Killer Salsa Frances Pritchard had brought her recipe for fresh, homemade
salsa to a local mini-mart in Minden. To her surprise,
she sold 14 pints on Super Bowl Sunday in 1993. That was quite a score for someone just trying to supplement
her income. The previous year, customers who frequented a little
cafeteria in Palo Alto, Calif., where Pritchard worked
as a food service manager, dubbed her special recipe 'killer
salsa.'' The name stuck - not because it was hot - but
because it tasted so fresh and good. Word of mouth soon spawned the necessity to make more
salsa, which in turn meant a larger production facility
than her home was needed. Prichard started a company,
Panchitas Inc., in 1993 and hired a small group of employees
to mix and package her natural salsa. 'We use canned tomatoes and add fresh cilantro, jalapeno,
onions and garlic,'' Pritchard says. 'We use everything
fresh. No chemicals. Our product is based on a fresh taste.'' Because Killer Salsa contains no preservatives, its
shelf life is only eight weeks and must be kept refrigerated.
Pritchard says she could stock it in stores 12 weeks,
but then the taste would be affected, and she doesn't
want to compromise quality. Killer Salsa comes in four varieties: original, hot,
garlic flavored and fire-roasted tomato. It sells retail
for an average of $2.99 a pint. It's sold in northern
and
southern Nevada at Raley's, Safeway, Albertson's, Smith
and Scolari's supermarkets. The Scolari's supermarket chain was the first big break
for Pritchard. 'I just walked into their headquarters
with some salsa and chips,'' Pritchard remembers. 'Jan
Gilbert, the deli buyer, had an appointment cancellation,
so he saw me. A taste is worth a 1,000 words.'' Pritchard had an instant sale. 20 Today, Scolari's buys 100 cases of salsa a month.
Raley's, with 140 grocery stores in its chain, buys 400
cases a month. 'Raley's was my first $10,000 check, and I saved a
copy of it,'' Pritchard says with fond memories. In 1999, Pritchard says the company sold 120,000 pints
of salsa and 5,000 gallons to commercial establishments.
That translates to approximately $285,000 in sales, she
says. That's quite a financial gain from her first year
in business when she did $23,000 in sales. Pritchard says the salsa is selling very well. She only
takes back about 1 percent a month from supermarkets to
meet her shelf-life criteria. June through September,
she says, are the busiest months for sales. The company is in its third location, a 1,890 square-foot
facility. Four women help Pritchard make salsa and her
son does deliveries. 'It started out slow, and now it's mushrooming,'' a
surprised Pritchard says. 'Salsa has become the No. 1
condiment in America - ahead of ketchup. Young people
are coming up and asking for hot food. They are rediscovering
salsa.'' Besides Nevada, Killer Salsa is also sold in
California and New Mexico. Pritchard even shipped to Florida
once, as a special request. For more information, contact: Panchitas Inc., Box 943,
Minden, NV. 89423. Phone: (775) 782-0048. Fax:
(775) 783-9922. Web Site address: www.killersalsa.com. |
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