Two words best describe the shelf-stable salsa category: Muy Caliente!

According to Chicago-based Infor­mation Resources, Inc., for the 52-week period ended Dec. 28, salsa sales in the food channel were $719.1 million, a 3.71% increase over 2007. Experts expect salsa sales to further heat up in 2009 as manufacturers capitalize on the latest trends—private label, local, single-source and unusual ingredients such as pomegranate.

“The category is still growing, but it is getting closer to a zero sum gain where you have to grow by taking something away from somebody,” says Doug Renfro, vice president, marketing, at Renfro Foods, Inc., the Ft. Worth, Texas-based manufacturer of the Mrs. Renfro’s brand.

At the recent Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, Renfro was working his booth showcasing his company’s three newest products: Pineapple, Pomegranate with Chipotle and Tequila salsas. “Pomegranate is huge, and we’ve been looking at it for about a year,” he says. 

Other brands have also carved out a niche by using unique ingredients. Phoenix-based Amelio C. Enterprises, for example, markets a prickly pear cactus salsa under the Arizona Cowboy brand name. “We have expanded our prickly pear cactus candy into a salsa line,” says Angelo Casciato, general manager. The line has been sold for several years in hometown A.J.’s Fine Foods, the upscale banner of Bashas’, as well as in local resorts, but is now being rolled out to supermarkets across the country. 

FROM DIP TO INGREDIENT
Manufacturers are also working hard to broaden salsa’s use from a tortilla-chip dip to a key recipe ingredient.

“We continue to focus on expanding usage beyond dipping,” says Michael Hill, associated brand manager, Pace salsa brand, at Campbell Soup Co., based in Camden, N.J. Those recipes include things like pizza and chicken dishes. “Beyond seasonal drive periods, including Cinco de Mayo and the 4th of July, we suggest that retailers adopt the Simple Meals approach, featuring Pace Picante Sauce as a component of a ‘Simple Meals’ recipe and merchandise key recipe ingredients together,” Hill says.

In September, Pace entered the emerging specialty fruit and bean salsa segments with the launch of Pace Pineapple Mango Chipotle and Pace Black Bean & Roasted Corn salsas. “We expect these new varieties to add incremental sales by expanding usage occasions for salsa,” Hill says. “With consumers’ continued interest in wellness, people may opt for Pace salsas as a healthier, more flavorful option than other sauces and condiments.”   

Carillo’s Fire-Roasted Salsa is another brand promoting itself as an ingredient. “Our salsas have a smooth texture, so they can be used for cooking, and we push the cooking envelope as well,” says Peter E. Carillo III, president and founder of the Rye, N.Y.-based firm.

Carillo says his salsas differ from others on the market in that they don’t contain any added sugar, are considered by the FDA to be low sodium, and doesn’t use any tomato paste or tomato concentrate. “Our fourth distinguishing feature is that we use as many as seven different types of chili peppers, and they are the spicier ones,” he says.

Charlie’s Salsa, produced by Beaverton, Ore.-based Beaverton Foods, has a Four Pepper Hot salsa that is garnering lots of attention. “As far as I know, I’m the first one to come out with a Four Pepper Hot, using four different kinds of peppers,” says Domonic Biggi, vice president. “Usually salsa will have a habanero or chipotle or one other kind of pepper.”

Another of Biggi’s innovations is replacing high-fructose corn syrup with honey. “We have the first honey salsa out there,” he says. “We also have the first Tomatillo Wasabi. I’m trying to do different flavors.”

There are two big differences with Emerald Valley Kitchen Salsa. It is organic and sold fresh in the dairy case.

“We make our salsa with 60 days of code, which is pretty darn good, being that it’s organic and clean [no preservatives], and we guarantee 40 days to the marketplace,” says Mike Lawson, sales manager at Oswego, Ore.-based Monterrey Gourmet Foods, which produces the brand. There are five varieties of Emerald Valley salsa: mild, medium and hot in red; salsa verde (green); and Fiesta, a sweeter version made with organic corn and black beans.

As salsa went mainstream it largely forgot its Aztec roots, and became “Americanized” with a different consistency and milder flavor profiles. But that’s not the case with Goya, which imports “authentic” salsa from Mexico.

“We have varieties that Mexicans consume differently and in different occasions,” says Alvaro Serrano, senior product manager, specialties, at Goya Foods, Inc., in Secaucus, N.J. Goya’s top seller is Pico de Gallo, a mild salsa made with chopped tomatoes, cilantro and onions, and served as a staple in authentic Mexican restaurants. Goya’s other varieties are the green Salsa Verde and the hot and spicy Salsa Taquera.  

“We suggest our retailers merchandise them in the ethnic aisle where Goya is normally present, but with the authentic Mexican product section of that aisle,” Serrano says. “We also love secondary placement in the regular salsa aisle for that general consumer looking for an authentic Mexican-style salsa,” he says.

Houston-based Riba Foods uses the authentic Mexican “roasting-toasting-grinding-and-frying” process to make its salsa. “Our company is 21 years old and we always focused on making the salsa the way the Aztec Indians did in Mexico,” says Richard Wall, marketing/sales.

Riba’s products are marketed under the Arriba brand name with 17 different varieties, but about 60% of its business is now from private label.  

Orestes, Ind.-based Red Gold, LLC., also does a strong business in private label, mimicking national brands. “We will match the name brands,” says Colt Reichart, Red Gold Brands territory sales manager. Its private label varieties include chipotle, cilantro, peach/pineapple, black bean & corn, hot, and thick & chunky. 

The company also offers medium and mild salsa under the Red Gold brand. Reichart says Red Gold’s products are fresher than other brands because all of its salsa tomatoes are grown in Indiana or Ohio. “All of our tomatoes are grown by our own farmers and our own seed,” he says.

Toledo, Ohio-based Hirzel Canning Co. also uses local tomatoes for its Dei Fratelli brand of salsa, in its case from northwestern Ohio and southeast Michigan. “Everything is produced during the harvest season and we sell from that stock throughout the year,” says Steve Hirzel, president of the fourth generation, family-owned company.