MERIDIAN, Idaho — A dream made into reality. After taking a leap and creating Ay Que Pica, business owners Karla and Victor Arias's love for food and culture has made it into stores like Boise Co-Op and now Fred Myers across the Treasure Valley.
- A dream brought to Idaho has skyrocketed through the Treasure Valley.
- After getting into the Boise Co-op, Arias made it a mission to get into other stores.
- After sending numerous samples they are now in Fred Myers in the Treasure Valley.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
"Sell salsa, make salsa, you make such amazing salsa, and that's how it started and we brought that dream to Idaho," said Ay Que Pica business owner Karla Arias.
In 2021 the Arias family had a dream to start something new and after neighbors urged them to start selling salsa to the public they finally went for it.
But had no idea that their love for food and culture would skyrocket.
"And he was my biggest supporter and said alright let's do it," said Arias.
Karla and Victor Arias and their family moved to Idaho with a dream of selling salsa, and after doing some research they started selling it in local food markets.
"He started doing one market, I started doing one, and we decided to just go from one to 5 at a time," said Arias.
And that was just the beginning of the journey, they did not expect to grow incredibly fast.
Starting with one salsa, and selling out in just hours, they decided to expand their inventory and created 3 more flavors: Roasted hot, Caribbean hot, roasted mild, and, one of their top sellers, Verde.
"People would get in line before the marker started just to grab their green salsa. The feedback that I got was kinda mind-blowing and it was almost like are you serious?" said Arias.
After a year of selling at markets and seeing the growth, their customers had one request.
"We need to have you in stores. It makes it so much easier for us to get your salsa in a store," said Arias.
Karla tells me she took on the challenge after getting her salsa in the Boise Co-op.
Karla sent samples to other top stores and after a year of trying their company gained another opportunity.
"A buyer from Fred Myers said "you know what, this is good" and that's when the process started," said Arias.
She spent another year handling paperwork and building her kitchen in her home.
"I deliver weekly because my salsa is fresh and the shelf like on it is about 30 days.
The Arias family makes about 2-thousand salsas a week -- with Idaho ingredients and no preservatives.
"We make everything from scratch," said Arias.
Now their goal is for everyone in Idaho to try their salsa and possibly be added to more stores.
'I've never seen so much love for a product, and I do I make it with so much love, and I can't tell you, there's been so many times we're exhausted, I'm exhausted, my kids are tired from events but I can never stop making salsa and that is one thing I can never stop doing I love it," said Arias.
