If you are a professional salsa maker and you think your salsa is better than the rest, then there is a contest for YOU. Bret Vitek of Jungle Jim’s International Market will offer to buy a total of 35 cases of salsa from the winner of this contest. PLUS, for Labor Day Weekend, Jungle Jim’s will feature the winning salsa in their weekly newsletter which reaches over 50,000 residents in the Cincinnati area in one of their biggest shopping weeks of the year. A value of $300 for the ad, for FREE to that winning salsa company.

So, with the goal in mind, what does the eager salsa maker have to do to get into this salsa contest? Well, all you will need to do is to send out your best jars of salsa to a few addresses, 4 in all. We can not have any salsa that needs refrigeration (i.e. fresh salsa,) so it must be canned and labelled. No amateur salsa is allowed. The judges for this contest will be represented from some of the most popular fiery food blogs (The Hot Zone Online, The Hot Pepper, Peppers and More, and Scott Roberts,) and will work in conjunction to bring in as many salsa products as we can sample. We will have a deadline of May 1st to get in your products to our judges. Prior commitment is required before receipt.

Come the July 4th Weekend, we will announce the “Final 4″ Salsa competitors, almost one month prior to the Weekend of Fire show which is on August 1-2. Much like the NCAA March Madness Tournament, the 4 salsas will meet to compete in one final round on Saturday of the event. This round will take place at Jungle Jim’s International Market’s Weekend of Fire, where you the Chilehead will have a chance to decide each salsa’s fate. Anyone going to the show will get to sample all 4 salsas and vote on who you think deserves to be voted as the best of the contest. PLUS, Bret will also give away FREE SALSA, to you the hot sauce blogger who casts a ballot at the show, but that will be announced later when we announce the final 4 salsas in early July.

Prizes:
Top 4 Salsas- 5 cases of salsa bought by Jungle Jim’s
Winner- An additional 10 cases bought by Jungle Jim’s and the free Labor Day advertisement worth around $300. A display at the store for customers to sample.
Runnerup- An additional 5 cases bought by Jungle Jim’s

There has to be a prior commitment in entering this contest that the winners must be able to send the 5 cases to Jungle Jim’s prior to the show. The inability to do so will drop them from the chance of winning anything further. Bret also asks the salsa makers to sell the cases of salsa at a wholesale price so he will be able to sell it at Jungle Jim’s for a reasonable price to his customers. Otherwise, the salsa might be harder to sell at higher costs.

The ONLY cost to those willing to enter this salsa contest is the price of your product and mailing it to the 4 judges. We will ask you to send 2 jars of the salsa you are most proud of to each judge. If you wish to send in more than one type we will be happy to evaluate it as well. If you wish to send in a fruit salsa or a black bean and corn or even an extreme heat salsa, you will be judged as well in the same criteria as the others. Heat will not figure in on the overall score for the salsa. The judges are all Chileheads though, so you might want to shelf the mild varieties for this contest.

If you have salsa and think it is the best, then jump in head first. Contact me with your company’s name, products that will be shipped, and phone number for contact purposes at albuddah@yahoo.com. I will provide you with the judges’ address info as soon as I am able to. Please enter “WOF Salsa Contest” in the email subject line. The judges MUST have receipt by May 1 to be eligible for this contest, so the longer you wait to get in touch with me, the harder it will be for you to get everything shipped on time. Any breakage is not the responsibility of the judges and you will be asked to reship in a timing fashion otherwise your entry will be disqualified. Please pack your boxes as best as you can.

All salsa entered will be mentioned as a group, and the losing companies will remain anonymous unless they desire to state otherwise on the various blog threads such as this one. This is a contest about winning salsa, so only the top 4 will be declared on the week around July 4th. If a company wants additional feedback, scores will be kept and I will be happy to furnish the results if desired at no additional cost to you via email or on a blog thread. You will not find a better salsa contest with no submission fee with a better prize than this one. Plus Chileheads- your customer base – will get to decide your fate!

We wish you the best of luck, and may the best salsa win. I would also like to thank Bret for letting me participate and organize this contest for Jungle Jim’s International Market.

Info about Jungle Jim’s Weekend of Fire

Weekend of Fire General Information:

Dates & Hours
Saturday, August 1, 2009 – 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, August 2, 2009 – 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Location
The Oscar Event Center
Jungle Jim’s International Market
5440 Dixie Highway
Fairfield, Ohio 45014

Phone Number
513.674.6000

Ticket Sales
Advance: $5.00 Per Person
At the Door: $7.00 Per Person
Children Under 12: Free with Adult admission *
* Children MUST be accompanied by an adult!

Parking is Free!