Santa Maria launches new Salsa range for out-of-home operators
Santa Maria, the nation’s leading out-of-home food provider, has announced the launch of its new Salsa range - a category worth a total of £212m - designed to help pub, casual dining, restaurant and quick-serve operators elevate their menu offering and increase the average spend per head.
With Creed Foodservice’s Plates to Profit 2023 Report revealing that nearly half (47%) of pub and restaurant operators have seen the number of bookings reduce[1], it’s increasingly important that operators maximise average spend per visit – and salsa can help do just that. The average trip spend on salsa occasions reaches £16.50, compared to £11.20 in the wider market.
Santa Maria’s new Salsa range is a trio including Mexican Salsa Roja, Salsa Rio Grande and Mexican Salsa Verde, which are all vegan, gluten and lactose-free packed with natural flavours and no added preservatives.
- Mexican Salsa Roja: A complex salsa, with a red colour, thick texture and chunks of red bell pepper, tomato and onion
- Salsa Rio Grande: A tangy, medium-chunky salsa, deep red in colour, with tangible garlic notes and coriander
- Mexican Salsa Verde: Light green in colour and chunky in texture, this salsa is made from tomatillos (related to the gooseberry), green jalapenos and lime
The salsas are ready to serve, ensuring a consistent level of taste and texture each time, or can be customised so operators can offer their own, signature salsa, setting them apart from competitors.
Santa Maria’s Taste Creator, Barnaby MacAdam, says: “Customisation has increased across menus by 49% year-on-year - it’s absolutely huge. Consumers are looking for ways to elevate their food choices with twists and upgrades to their dishes. The hurdle for many operators is having the time to reengineer their menus and come up with new ideas and also have the skill and time amongst their teams to create the dishes.
“This is where our new salsa range comes into its own – it’s ready to be served, no prep required, and incredibly versatile so can be dolloped on top of Nachos, smothered over burger patties, the perfect accompaniment to Mexican salad bowls or can be offered as a topping choice for loaded burritos, tacos or taquitos.
“Equally, operators can use our salsa as a base to then build their own signature salsa sauce – offering completely unique flavours to their customers. This could be added to existing menu dishes or as a signature side dipping sauce for fries or chicken wings, enabling operators to move away from offering side sauces for free and drive an additional revenue stream.”
To accompany the new Salsa range, Santa Maria has introduced the Flavour Wheel; a handy tool for operators to refer to and understand the perfect salsa for them. The Wheel includes food pairing suggestions along with the base notes, heat level, and top notes, for each salsa.
Alongside this, the Santa Maria chef team have also created some mouth-watering recipe ideas to help inspire operators including: Fajita Chicken Taquitos, filled with red onion, pepper and chicken breast, seasoned with Fajita Spice Mix and drizzled in Chipotle sauce and topped with chopped coriander; Baja Vegan Burger, a plant-based burger patty seasoned with Mexican Fajita seasoning, topped with vegan mayo, lettuce, avocado slices, spiked salsa, pickled red onion and vegan Monterey Jack cheese; Loaded Cheesy Tex Mex Nachos, tortilla chips topped with jalapenos, salsa, guacamole and drizzled in warm cheese sauce; and Chicken Tinga Tacos, stuffed with lettuce and chicken tinga, topped with red jalapenos and drizzled in Chipotle sauce.
The new salsas are all available in 2.3-litre formats. To view the new Salsa range and the recipes please visit https://pauligpro.com/uk/salsa
