Today we’d like to introduce you to Jesse Ancira Iii
Hi Jesse , so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My grandparents, Jesse Ancira Sr. and Josie Ancira originated their homemade salsa recipes in the late 1990’s. They would travel throughout Central Texas to farmers markets and festivals selling their Mexican style salsas. After large and continuous demand, my father, Jesse Ancira Jr., was prescient enough to commercialize the brand, Ancira Salsa as a legal business entity. Around 2018, we launched our social media and website ancirasalsa.com and began our e-commerce operation. We would fulfill orders all around the country and especially throughout Texas. A bit after covid, we saw an increase in sales, built a lot of brand equity throughout the early stages—building a cult following on social media, and began scaling by partnering with regional food distributors. One of our biggest achievements was earning placement in all Central Market store locations in Texas. It was a proud moment for my family, as well as the brand.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We definitely encountered obstacles along the way. In the early days, we hired a third party fulfillment company that provided less than satisfactory service, which temporarily led to the loss of a few key customers, and huge associated costs in fulfillment and logistics. We now hand wrap, pack, and fulfill everything in house, providing exceptionional customer service to salsa lovers out there. Another challenge, which I believe most small batch brands face when entering large scale distribution, is the associated costs with working with food distributors and big retailers. However, we won’t let these challenges stop us from living up to our “Nearly World Famous” tagline. Expect to see us in more stores very soon.
As you know, we’re big fans of Ancira Salsa. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Ancira Salsa is the ‘nearly world famous’ salsa company from Taylor, TX. We are a family-owned and operated salsa brand that has served several hundred grocery retail accounts around the country. We offer 7 artisan craft salsas, steeped in Mexican tradition, using simple, clean, ingredients. What makes Ancira Salsa stand out?—Ancira Salsa has evolved past a mere salsa product or commodity, and has risen into a culture of its own. You’ll see our customers wearing stylish and high quality Ancira apparel, or often catch them showcasing our branded merchandise out in the wild. We are big on branding and building brand equity and brand pedigree. What I like about our brand is you will often see customers marketing for Ancira Salsa on their own behalf on social media, which is extremely compelling. Ancira Salsa stands out from your average farmers market salsa vendor by not only offering home-style tradition salsas, but by our active community engagement and public service. We sponsor dozens of local causes, are active members of the Taylor Chamber of Commerce, and we serve on multiple nonprofit boards, offering community assistance and leadership where needed. We support local in the truest sense of the phrase.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Absolutely. We learned about the importance of high-speed, fast fulfillment and service. A person from Kingston, NY can place an order online, and they’ll have a jar of Ancira Salsa on their doorstep in a span of 2-3 days, all legally compliant, secure, and safe. Many salsa companies won’t ship you salsa due to the heavy, fragile nature of glass, not to mention costly; however, we like to go above and beyond without compromising quality. I believe anyone should be able to have a taste of Texas at their table, should they desire.
Pricing:
- Most jars range from $8-$10 on our website.
- You can find them in the $6-$7 range at Central Market.
- We also offer wholesale pricing to independent retailers. Reach out to us to get stocked.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ancirasalsa.com
- Instagram: @ancirahotsauce
- Facebook: @ancira’shotsauce
- LinkedIn: @ancirasalsa
- Twitter: @ancirasalsa
- Other: Tiktok: @ancirasalsa
Image Credits
Rachel K. Trussel.
Terry Skiles.
Ben Jinkins.
Andrew Portillo.
