Salsa surpassed ketchup in dollar-volume sales in 1991 and was worth $931 Mil in 2008 (that’s more than 379 million jars!). Now, part of that may be because Salsa doesn’t last as long as ketchup. But hey, that’s not salsa’s problem.

Salsa first gained notoriety in the 1970s due to increased interest in Southwestern foods, healthier foods and higher tortilla chip sales (you gotta dip all those chips in something). Nowadays, you’ll find many varieties of salsas. Pace introduced 5 new varieties in 2008 alone.

If you read our recent post about BBQ sauce, you’ll remember a problem that small producers have: shelf space. The big guys run the show for salsa much in the same way they do for BBQ sauces.

So where does that leave smaller producers? Well they need to rely on the web more to generate interest, sales and trials.

• Be sure that you have a website that lets people know where they can buy your salsa.
• Share your URL on your packaging.
• Let consumers order directly from your website.
• Give your consumers some tantalizing recipes
• Tell your story (where did you get your recipe? has it been in the family for years?)
• And for heaven’s sake try to use the word “chipotle” on your website. It’s the Mexican ingredient du jour, and that term alone is searched by more than 90,000 consumers each month on Google.

Something of interest is that some of the biggest brands out there do not have a presence on the big social networks. But they do have a presence on the supermarket shelves.

So, as a small packager of salsa, what are you to do?

90% of all salsas are sold in a bottle or can. The rest is sold fresh in the produce section of the market, or at specialty locations (including restaurants).

In California, most supermarkets sell a fresh option. It is usually quite tasty. And it will usually last a a few days. It is usually made right at the supermarket.

I almost always opt to buy my chips and salsa at a local Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles called Tito’s Tacos. It is worth the drive and the wait (there’s always a line).

And that’s the thing about salsa. If you have a good salsa, people will search it out. But you need to help them find it.

That’s where your website and social presence comes in.

As mentioned above. You may have a reasonably even playing field when it comes to Facebook and Twitter. Currently, Big Salsa is not there. So if you get your brand out there, and build up a fan base now, by the time Big Salsa gets around to it, you’ll be in a good place.

But as you can see from the Facebook Fan Page of a hot sauce (the “Southern” cousin of salsa), just being there is not enough.

Dave’s Insanity Sauce has over 1,100 fans, but only one post.

Give your fans something to talk about. Start the conversation. The Superbowl is coming up. Remind them that it’s your salsa that should be sitting on the table next to the tortilla chips. And give them a reason to order it (a coupon and a place to redeem it, free shipping, a recipe, etc.)
Don’t just ask one question and expect your fans to do the rest.

As far as search engines, there’s bigger competition than Pace or Ortega. And that’s the romantic latin dance made popular by the 80s movie “Salsa” (tagline: “It’s Hot”). A search for “Salsa” comes up with more than 39,000,000 results. So what to do?

Recipes. Make sure your website has a lot of them. And be sure to use keyword-rich, tantalizing recipes (such as chipotle).

Engage fans where they are. Everyone has to start somewhere, so set up your Facebook Page and start building your fan base. Send a free order of salsa to anyone who gets 25 people to join. Become part of the party.

Remind people of reasons to enjoy salsa (i.e.: Happy Cinco de Mayo).

Lastly, if you must eat Big Salsa, may i recommend Herdez? I “discovered” it in a small Mexican market in Los Angeles years ago and have always kept it as my backup salsa (there’s always a jar or can in the cupboard). But I guess I’m not the only one who likes it because I just noticed that they are now owned by Hormel. Little salsa becomes Big Salsa.

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