Twenty-four years ago, Cheryl Wilcox tried out a salsa recipe given to her by a co-worker. At the time, she had no idea how much the simple gesture would impact her life. She did know, however, that the recipe was too sweet for her taste. So, she tried it again with less sugar and, when […]
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Twenty-four years ago, Cheryl Wilcox tried out a salsa recipe given to her by a co-worker. At the time, she had no idea how much the simple gesture would impact her life.
She did know, however, that the recipe was too sweet for her taste. So, she tried it again with less sugar and, when her mother was diagnosed with diabetes, she made a batch with no sugar at all.
“Diabetics don’t have the opportunity to have something nice as a treat or to use a condiment. We made one batch without sugar and everybody loved it. We never went back,” Wilcox recalled.
And so salsa-making became a yearly tradition at the Wilcox household in Ottawa, with kids and nieces joining in over subsequent years. “Our dining room table would just be covered with jars of salsa because we would make it for our friends and extended family,” Wilcox said.
Continued rave reviews from friends and family prompted her to keep making big batches of salsa every year and, each year, she would hear the same thing: “You’ve got to sell this.”
Wilcox took note and, in January 2019, she started Mom’s Homemade, selling salsa based on the recipe she’d spent years perfecting. By March, she’d sold her first jar at Mrs. McGarrigle’s Fine Foods in Merrickville, where the store’s founder, Janet Campbell, was known for her mustards.
“That’s where we started making it,” Wilcox said. “Janet helped me out. She said that when she started out with her mustards, everybody helped her.”
With Campbell’s support and dozens of cold calls made to other local stores, Mom’s Homemade started to see success. Wilcox also took her salsas to local farmers’ markets, appreciating the ability to connect with customers directly.
“I sell very well (at the markets) and people would come up and say, ‘I wish I could get this in my area.’ So I would ask if there was a store nearby I should try,” she said.
Then, just as things started rolling, the pandemic hit. But, unlike many other businesses in 2020, Mom’s Homemade thrived.
“COVID was actually very good for my business because everybody started to buy local … It was very surprising because we had only been in business since (the January before) everything shut down. The big thing was that I had buyers before everything shut down.”
Mom’s Homemade has continued to grow ever since. For the past 18 months, Wilcox said her business has been a part of the Sobeys local program, which gave her a certain clout.
“Now that I have a Sobeys vendor number, it’s easier to get into stores. (It) gives them more incentive to look at you because Sobeys has gone through the process of (looking) at my business and likes it,” she said, adding that the program has allowed her to supply her products to stores as far north in Ontario as MacTier and Tobermory, all the way south to Windsor.
Now, Wilcox’s salsa is available in 72 stores across Ontario and also in Manitoba, with her next target market being the GTA.
Her product selection has grown from the original mild recipe to include a medium and a hot salsa, which consists of the original recipe mixed with five hot peppers. She also carries Mom’s Wrath, a salsa with a five-pepper blend of jalapeno, ghost, cherry bomb, habanero and lady finger, with the addition of some Carolina reapers for an extra kick.
Wilcox says her salsa is successful because it’s healthier than grocery store offerings. “The fact that there’s no sugar, low sodium and no preservatives, so it’s a lot healthier for you … I have minimalized chunks, so you can get almost everything on a chip.”
Plus, her salsa is good for more than pairing with tortilla chips. “When we make meatloaf, instead of adding ketchup into the ground beef, we add salsa. We mix our spaghetti sauce half-and-half (with salsa). We’re getting to the point now, in the summer, we use it as a condiment with barbecue. It’s a healthy product with lots of versatility.”
The customer response to her products has completely surpassed her expectations from when she started her business almost seven years ago.
“(My expectations were) nowhere near what it turned into. I thought (at the time that) it was something I’m going to try for a couple of years and if it doesn’t work, I haven’t put a lot of expense into it,” Wilcox said.
She did, however, put some effort and creativity into the packaging.
“We went silly with the label. We’ve got a character of me. The hot has a ghost in the salsa and the wrath has a little grim reaper in the salsa bowl. We made it fun. Purple is my favourite colour so that’s why the whole theme of Mom’s Homemade is purple.
“I always tell people that (when) you go to the store, you can’t miss the purple label with the old lady on it. Every other salsa (packaging) is red, black or green.”
And, what’s in a name? Wilcox said she wanted people to connect with the brand, something she doesn’t think she could have achieved if the business was called Wilcox Family Salsa.
“The name Mom’s Homemade gives you that warmth, that trusting feeling … Now, everybody comes up to me at the markets, people I don’t know, saying, ‘Hi, Mom!’”
Despite the success of her salsa, Wilcox continues to work part-time as a receptionist for a dental office, which is where her co-worker gave her the salsa recipe more than two decades ago.
“I put three days into (Mom’s Homemade a week). Fridays are usually my delivery days … I only work two days a week out of the house, answering emails on my lunch hour.”
While retirement would be nice, Wilcox said she would miss getting out of the house. But no matter what she decides, Mom’s Homemade is sure to spice up the next few years.
“I probably would keep going with my part-time job, but I think I’ve got a lot more to do. I’ve got a lot more stores to get in and I need (Mom’s Homemade) to be known, eventually, nationwide. I think that’s a long way off but I want this to go as far as it possibly can.”
To see the success and impact that the business has had is like getting a big hug from the community, Wilcox said, even if it may not end up as a million-dollar company.
“At the end of December after all these Christmas markets and stuff, I’m like, ‘I really don’t know if I want to do this anymore.’ But there are people that this is the only salsa they eat. I can’t stop now. I can’t disappoint people. I think the people keep me going and I will keep going for them,” Wilcox said.
The next batch of Mom’s Homemade will likely be a jalapeno relish, set to launch in the new year. She’s also working on joining Metro’s local vendors program to expand her reach in Canada. But expanding her product line and reach will mean growing her team as well.
“We deliver by ourselves. Soon I’m going to have to look into getting a distributor. I’ve started the process of getting into Metro’s local program too, so at that point if I’m across Ontario with that, I’m definitely going to need support for delivery.
“My goal in life, when I started this business, was (that) I want to be the next Diana Sauce.”
