Two Ugly Mugs is a family-owned salsa maker carrying on the Perella family’s generations-old tradition of growing, canning, and sharing food. Its salsa is made from an inherited family recipe, with the company describing its products as preservative-free and made with fresh-picked ingredients.
Jose Madrid SalsaFrom a Zanesville restaurant kitchen to a growing Ohio food brand, Jose Madrid Salsa makes New Mexico-style salsa shaped by the Zakany family’s Mexican heritage. Mike Zakany developed the recipes through research, experimentation and customer feedback before launching the company in 1987, naming it for his beloved grandfather from Clovis, New Mexico. First sold in gourmet and grocery stores in 1988, the company now offers 25 different salsas, with fruit-forward flavors and heat levels that reflect its willingness to move beyond traditional red salsa.COLUMBUS, OH
Willy's Fresh SalsaWilly’s Fresh Salsa is a family business making refrigerated salsa and guacamole with real ingredients, including tomatoes sourced from Ohio and Michigan family farms. Incorporated in 2003, the company began producing salsa full time in 2006 and now supplies stores in all 50 states from its manufacturing facility in Swanton, Ohio. Its fresh, uncooked salsa is made in smaller batches, and the company holds BRC food-safety certification.SWANTON, OH
Jalapa JarJalapa Jar makes refrigerated, small-batch fresh salsa in Brooklyn’s Navy Yard, using a proprietary process to preserve the taste of homemade salsa without additives or preservatives. The recipe began in an Austin kitchen in the early 2000s, developed by culinary-school-trained Joel Nearing and longtime friends Tommy Byrnes and Steve Smith before the company launched in New York in 2015. Its Texas roots and Brooklyn production come together in fire-roasted, fresh-kept salsa distributed nationally.BROOKLYN, NY
Vesper Bros. FoodsTwin brothers John and Bill Vesper carry on a family food tradition shaped by their father’s Wayne deli and Southern Italian roots. Vesper Bros. Foods packages the homemade “gravy” they grew up eating, preserving family recipes for home cooks beyond their parents’ store. The company’s signature sauces are made without preservatives or added sugar.WAYNE, PA