Jul. 5--CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The sign outside says "Cruisin' Fried Chicken." But inside, you'll find nothing battered or deep-fried.

Magdalena de la Cruz Cook-Garcia has moved her salsa-making operation -- Maggie's Salsa -- from Huntington to Charleston's West Side.

Cook-Garcia's eight employees now work out of a former fast-food restaurant that replaced a Kentucky Fried Chicken.

"I have people stop by and ask, 'You do what?'" Cook-Garcia said. "They say, 'I want some chicken.' I say, Sorry. We don't sell chicken.'"

Maggie's Salsa, of course, sells salsa. Lots of salsa. And despite the recession, the fresh salsa manufacturer continues to grow.

Four months ago, Maggie's started selling salsa through Harris Teeter, an upscale North Carolina-based supermarket chain. The salsa company also has regional contracts with Kroger and Whole Foods Market, the world's largest natural and organic retailer.

Since moving to Charleston in January, Maggie's Salsa has doubled its profits over the previous year, Cook-Garcia said. The company makes about 2,200 pounds of salsa a day.

"It's been non-stop," Cook-Garcia said. "This is kind of like a dream. Our niche is authentic Mexican salsa. Nobody else is doing it."

The U.S. Small Business Administration West Virginia division recently recognized the salsa company's growth, naming Cook-Garcia the state's "Young Entrepreneur of the Year."

Cook-Garcia started Maggie's Salsa in 2004, working part-time and selling salsa at local stores, such as the Purple Onion and Joe's Fish Market. The Whole Foods contract, signed in 2007, prompted Cook-Garcia to quit her full-time job as an interior designer.

"When we started, it took three hours to chop by hand one gallon of salsa," Cook-Garcia said. "And now we're doing five gallons in 15 seconds."

Cook-Garcia looked at 28 properties in Charleston before settling on the former fast-food restaurant site near Patrick Street Plaza. The company previously made its salsa out of a commercial kitchen at Buck's Fruit in Huntington.

The West Side location beside the Orchard Manor housing project hasn't been without problems. It required an extensive cleaning.

"From being a chicken place, there was a lot of grease," Cook-Garcia said.

Also, people sometimes stop by looking for the neighborhood detoxification center next door.

Earlier this year, two men tried to mug Cook-Garcia and a salsa company employee in the parking lot.

"They were intoxicated," Cook-Garcia recalled. "They opened the door of our car and said, 'We're taking everything.'"

Cook-Garcia fended off the robbers, and Charleston police later apprehended them.

The former fast-food restaurant site also has its advantages -- two coolers where Maggie's Salsa can store its tubs of salsa, and the tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers, lime juice and cilantro used to make it.

Cook-Garcia adds a "special ingredient" to her salsa. Only she and one employee know what it is, but Cook-Garcia revealed that she travels to her native Michoacan, Mexico, to buy the ingredient.

Last week, she showed off a bucket of the "secret sauce," which appeared to be made from dried chiles.

All of the salsas -- mild, medium, hot and fire -- are chopped fresh, and never cooked. They contain no sugar or artificial preservatives. A dash of red-wine vinegar serves as a natural preservative.

The salsas sell for about $3.99 in most stores.

Maggie's also has added new items to its product line -- white queso [cheese] dip, and most recently, "guaca-salsa" -- a tub of mashed avocado topped by fresh salsa, which acts as a seal that prevents the avocado from being exposed to air and turning brown.

After opening the container, you mix the salsa and avocado to make guacamole. The product sells through Harris Teeter supermarkets. The guaca-salsa hit at last week's New York Fancy Food Show, which attracted 24,000 attendees, Cook-Garcia said.

"It's selling like hotcakes," she said.

More than 95 percent of the company's salsa sales remain outside West Virginia, but Cook-Garcia vows to keep the company in Charleston, no matter how big it gets.

"We are constantly improving and becoming better," she said. "We hunger for that. We're not interested in making millions. We're interested in putting out a good product that people like."

Reach Eric Eyre at ericeyre@wvgazette.com or 304-348-4869.

<< -- 07/06/2009>>