Tripp Nanney is in charge of Laredo and Lefty's Salsa. The Evans man was once vice president of Jesse Foods Inc., which sold more than $500,000 worth of salsa a month. He faces the challenge of helping the company he helped found reclaim its national marketplace recognition. JIM BLALOCK/AUGUSTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE

Evans salsa maker looks to recapture sales he once had

Web posted July 3, 2000

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By Melissa Hall
Staff Writer

Tripp Nanney knows what it feels like to fall off a horse and get back in the saddle again.

He was once riding the success of a salsa company that had nearly $8 million in annual sales. When it had reached its peek, Jesse Foods Inc. was the sixth largest out of 400 salsa producers in the United States. But that was about six years ago, and a lot has happened since then.

Locally, you can find Laredo and Lefty's salsa in Kroger for $1.99 a jar - hot, medium or mild. But at the height of the company's success, the spicy concoction was in grocery stores nationwide.

The company started in Tampa, Fla., in 1994. Mr. Nanney, who now lives in Augusta, was one of the founders and served as the company's vice president. Initially, the company made salad dressings, but then decided to ride the salsa craze.

``We made a real quality salad dressing we thought would do terrific things, and it was doing fine,'' said the 35-year-old Mr. Nanney. ``But that was in the heyday of when salsa was really a hot item. Everybody was making a salsa. and its popularity was increasing, so we said, `Why don't we make a salsa?'

``And literally within six months it was hands down our best seller. It just took off. It was an overnight sensation.''

Over the course of the next year, they promoted their salsa on local AM radio talk shows, and the product took off.

``We were in 400 to 500 stores in Florida only,'' Mr. Nanney said.

By then, the company had realized the power of advertising and wanted a big name behind their brand. In summer 1995, they contacted the sales department of radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh. By that time, they had expanded to about 2,000 stores throughout the Southeast and the west coast. The company was doing $40,000 to $50,000 a month in sales.

Having the contract in hand to advertise on Mr. Limbaugh's show was they clout they needed to open many doors.

``From the time frame he (Mr. Limbaugh) agreed to the contract to the time he started was four months, and we picked up another 6,000 to 7,000 stores,'' Mr. Nanney said. ``Within three months after he began selling it we were in 16,000 stores. It was a nationwide program, and we were on his station a lot.''

Behind the scenes, there were problems - problems that did not surface until the company's president, Mr. Nanny's partner, bailed out.

``When he left the company there were a lot of skeletons in the closet, starting with the IRS on down,'' Mr. Nanney said. ``Let's just say the president resigned under pressure from the board of directors due to personal problems.''

The company's strong advertising campaign, part of the very thing that had made them successful, was now one more bill to take them further down the food chain. The company had a one-year contract with the Rush Limbaugh Show for $1.3 million, a monthly advertising bill of more than $100,000.

In 1997, three investors out of Boston joined together to purchase the company. Mr. Nanney, who retained a 5 percent share in the company, was the only original employee they retained. They changed the name of the company from Jesse Foods Inc. to Laredo and Lefty Foods Inc. They reined in operations, halting production of salad dressings to concentrate on their three varieties of salsa.

But by then, Mr. Nanney was beleaguered, having survived his company's upheaval, and had no desire to move to Boston. In 1997 he changed horses and found a job as a pharmaceutical salesman with a company in Augusta.

Last summer he got a phone call that would start the race again. Laredo and Lefty was in peril.

``They had gone from selling products in 12,000 stores to 1,000 stores,'' Mr. Nanney said. ``The food business is very, very competitive. They just phased out. They weren't doing any advertising and promotion, just paying a lot of people to pseudo-manage their company. It was strictly an investment for them.''

Part of the company's demise has to do with the nature of the grocery business, Mr. Nanney said. It's called slotting. Companies such as Laredo and Lefty actually pay grocery stores $50 to $150 per store to have their products displayed.

``You pay a chain like Kroger somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 to $150 per store for your product to gain initial entry,'' Mr. Nanney said. ``So when we went to Kroger (headquarters) in Atlanta - they control 400 to 500 stores - it cost us about $30,000 to get our product in those stores. Literally, before they give you the first order, you have to write them a check.''

And once a product makes it onto store shelves, like Laredo and Lefty's hot salsa, the competition can be heated.

``Salsa in and of itself is a very popular product in the United States,'' said Brian Sansoni, senior manager for public policy communications at the Grocery Manufacturers of America. ``We've seen a huge increase in sales over the last couple of years. It is also very competitive and the battle for shelf space is fierce. Clearly there is only so much shelf space retail establishments have.''

When Mr. Nanney resumed control of the company, the new ownership had let many of their contracts with grocery stores expire. Now to put their product back on store shelves, they'll have to pay the initial slotting fees again.

As part of the reorganization process, the company was pared down to Mr. Nanney and Kim Norland, who acts as his administrative assistant, doing all the leg-work for the company, which operates out of his home in the Rivershyre subdivision off Hardy McManus Road in Columbia County. All other company functions - accounting for instance - are subcontracted.

And they moved salsa production from Tampa to a large food product manufacturer in San Antonio, Texas. It was a move that had many benefits, from controlling production cost to marketing. They also have a post office box in Laredo, Texas, so it appears as if the company is located there. The mail is actually forwarded to Mr. Nanney in Evans.

``It was the Pace commercial that helped drive the fame of salsa, the New York City commercial,'' he said. ``People can't remember it was Pace Picante Sauce, but they remember the Texas thing, so we felt it wouldn't hurt us to say we manufacture our salsa in Texas. We've got a good manufacturing partner there.''

Now Mr. Nanney is taking the ``Turtle and the Hare'' approach to business - slow and steady wins the race.

The salsa is now sold in about 3,000 stores in Texas, California, Washington, Nevada, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida.

This fall Mr. Nanney plans to kick off a strong national advertising campaign pegging his product off a national radio talk show host - this time maybe Paul Harvey or Dr. Laura Schlesinger.

When the company was at its peak, sales were more than $530,000 a month. Today, sales are around $35,000 a month. But before Mr. Nanney received the call to return to duty, the company was doing about $8,000 in sales a month.

Laredo and Lefty are fictional characters smiling from behind the badge on the salsa's red, yellow and black label. But those Texas cowboys aren't ready to ride off into the sunset yet.

``I know we can do it again,'' Mr. Nanney said. ``I know I can do it again.''

Reach Melissa Hall at (706) 868-1222, Ext. 113, or ccchron@augustachronicle.com.