Local Vendor Spotlight: Casa Sanchez

Fresh, Locally-made Chips & Salsa just in time for the Super Bowl

What’s a Super Bowl party without chips & salsa? The two together offer so many more options than just chips & dip…you can make nachos, top potato skins, garnish a chili, taco soup or salad, even a hamburger…the possibilities are endless!

Casa Sanchez, one of our local vendors, knows just how much Bay Area residents love their chips and dip during Super Bowl weekend – it’s one of the busiest times of year! As a result of our great relationship with Casa Sanchez, the company is participating in our coupon program Jan. 28-Feb.3rd so that we may offer you a bag of all-natural Casa Sanchez tortilla chips and a tub of salsa for free (a value of $7.48) and just in time for the Super Bowl!

A glimpse in the Casa Sanchez tortilla factory — the family has been part of the Bay Area since the 1920s.

Though the Casa Sanchez Company has been part of the Bay Area since the 1920s, when Club Sanchez restaurant and nightclub opened in San Francisco’s Fillmore District, their family’s products have been offered for 90 years.

Roberto and Isabel Sanchez came to San Francisco from Mexico in the early 1920s and opened the first mechanized tortilla factory in Northern California. Their recipes for fresh chips, guacamole and salsas have been on through generation to generation.

The Sanchez family uses only all natural ingredients, no artificial preservatives, additives, coloring or sweeteners in their products, which are also gluten free and GMO free. This practice is used across their product line of tortillas, chips and guacamole, as well as their natural and fresca salsas, just as Roberto and Isabel Sanchez did, to maintain the flavor, integrity and quality of their products.

Their fresh Salsa Roja, for example, is three-generation old salsa recipe from Zacatecas, Mexico, brings a simple and flavorful combination of California tomatoes, mild jalapenos, diced onions and crushed garlic to a home style salsa. Their guacamole, some say, is better than homemade. It’s packed with Haas avocado chunks and fresh veggies just like what their Grandma Sanchez used to make.

A little history: After the Sanchez family opened the restaurant and nightclub in the 1960s, their offerings expanded to include a line of other packaged goods, including the first packaged fresh salsa in the country sold at supermarkets!

Do you have a funny feeling you recognize the Casa Sanchez logo for another reason outside the world of chips & salsa? Does the word “tattoo” ring any bells? If so, that could be because of one of the more wild marketing ideas Casa Sanchez tried out in the 1990s – an idea that brought them national media attention!

Marty Sanchez, one of Roberto’s grandchildren, put a sign in the store window which I’m sure she thought would get more of a laugh than action. The sign, with a picture of the company logo, read: Tattoo me on yourself and get free lunch for life! To their surprise, so many people wanted in on the free-lunch-for-life tattoo deal within a few months of the initial announcement that the restaurant decided to limit the number of participants to 50. The idea was voted one of the top 5 marketing ideas of the year by Forbes magazine!

Based on 2008 Nielson ratings, Casa Sanchez’s salsa is now the highest selling salsa in California. I have to agree with those who say Casa Sanchez’s products are better than homemade, and that’s due to their outstanding fresh ingredients. I love mixing the guacamole with a bit of hot salsa for an extra punch, and you have to appreciate how Casa Sanchez is sure to appeal to different heat pallets by offering a range of mild to hot salsas. Everyone has a different preference and they nail it each time!