This is a great story out of Maryland, very close to where we used to live in the Baltimore area. This is yet another example of what a good homemade recipe and a little ingenuity will get you…with an investment, of course. The company is called Mama Vida’s, and they sell a variety of sauces, salsa, marinades, and other miscellaneous fare that the average chilehead might really like. Check ‘em out, and let them know we sent ya if you try their stuff and like it.

The excerpt below is from an article in the Owings Mills Times:

Family firm learns to think big time

Mechalis started out small, then grew

04/26/07
JULIA WILSON

The Mechali family, of Randallstown, started out small but has learned over the years to think big.

The Mechalis’ salsa-making company was geared toward selling jars of the condiment to a few local gourmet markets. Today, the company, Mama Vida’s, sells their own salsa, as well as pasta sauce and salad dressing, across the country and fills a niche market by providing manufacturing services to other entrepreneurs.

Miki and Toto Mechali started their Randallstown company, named after Toto’s mother, 14 years ago. Miki said she remembers when the company first asked the manager of a local gourmet shop to stock its salsa.

“Our knees were shaking,” she said. They told the manager he could keep the salsa jars and see if they sold, but he insisted on paying for them. “I thought he was just feeling sorry for us,” she said, but the jars sold and later that week he called for five cases.

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