One day, the president of a regional supermarket chain showed up and asked for Aronson. "I heard about your salsa," he said, "Have you ever thought about producing it for stores?" Six months after his first batch, Aronson was selling over $40,000 of the product every month. Today, Garden Fresh Gourmet has 165 employees and expected to sell $32 million dollars worth of salsa, dips, chips and salad dressings in 2006. To top it all off, Garden Fresh won 13 of the 24 2007 Scovie awards given in the salsa category.

Although he had long been a hot sauce and salsa fan, Aronson didn't become a salsa maker until after an eye-opening visit to the National Fiery Foods and Barbecue Show in Albuquerque. "I said to myself, 'Why isn't anybody in Michigan making fresh salsa?'" Aronson recalls, "At the time, the definition of 'fresh salsa' was a salsa they put fresh ingredients in and then loaded it with preservatives, so back then, the bottled stuff was much, much better," he says. "I took a gamble when I shut down my dining room and started making this salsa. My kids thought I gone mad! But I made 70 sales calls in a row and I got into 70 stores. At that point I thought it would be nice if the salsa sales would help pay the utility bills."

Eventually, Aronson moved into an old video store, remodeled it, and moved production there. Now they occupy a large factory and they're planning a 40,000 square-foot addition. How does a small company grow so big, so fast, so well? Dave Zilko, Garden Fresh's Vice President of Sales and Marketing, calls Aronson "a genius in tennis shoes." Although they're both from Detroit, Aronson and Zilko met at the 2002 Fancy Foods Show in New York. Zilko owned a small specialty foods company that was bursting at the seams of its small production facility; Aronson had just moved into a huge factory that he hoped to grow into, so Zilko moved in. "After a few months we went from being associates sharing space to real partners," Zilko says. "It's one of the best things I've ever done professionally--and honestly, personally too. He's become one of my best friends."

Even with 165 employees, Garden Fresh is still very much a family business. Aronson's wife Annette comes in occasionally to work the line with their original five employees, all of whom are still there. The couple's five kids, Trevor, Jack, Melissa, Melanie, and Daniel all work for the family business. And every month Aronson barbecues for his employees, cooking up menus like roasted chicken and honeybaked ham, spaghetti and meatballs, green beans with garlic and bacon, fresh rolls, and chocolate cake. Everyone takes a longer-than-usual lunch break and they sit around and talk about how things are going.

Zilko says Aronson is so humble and charismatic that people often underestimate his business acumen. "I'm the one with the MBA in marketing, but I keep telling him he should run for governor," the Vice President says. According to Zilko, Aronson has a tremendous gift for being able to create best-selling products and razor-sharp business instincts. "I study entrepreneurship and he is truly an entrepreneur. Often the fatal flaw of an entrepreneur is that they never know when to let go, when to delegate. Their companies get so big, but they try to do everything themselves and the company will literally collapse because nothing gets done was well as it should. Jack knows when to let go and we've got a distribution expert, a great plant manager...I give him a lot of credit for that because most people aren't able to do it."

Aronson says the success of his salsas, dips and chips is a result of culinary strategy. "We don't overprocess things," he explains. "You look at some of the packages in the store and there's a hundred ingredients in them. We keep it simple." Last year Garden Fresh acquired a hummus company and this winter they will launch a new line of Mediterranean products, including a super-premium hummus. To research hummus, Aronson sent his research and development guy to Israel. Zilko explains that most American companies make hummus with canned chickpeas, but in the Middle East, they start with dried chickpeas and roast them to bring out the flavor. "That's a crucial difference," Zilko says, "because when you buy anything canned and used that as your base it's not going to taste as good."

Together, Zilko and Aronson had hoped to accomplish two main things in 2006: to launch their hummus line, and to get their products into warehouse stores. Approaching the end of a very, very good year, the pair were proud to report that the hummus was set to be in stores—including Costco—by Jan. 1. "My goal for 2007," Zilko says, "is to become the first national brand of fresh salsa." Moving towards that goal, they've set up a national sales staff and hired a slew of regional managers. It'll be hard work, but as Zilko says of Aronson, "He's the kind of guy you root for."

Crab nachos, you ask? Well, why not? The combination of the blue corn chips, chile, and the crab makes for cross-country culinary experience.

2 cups milk

1 small can chopped green chiles, drained

1 1/2 cups grated pepper jack cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more to taste)

1/2 bag Garden Fresh Gourmet Blue Corn Tortilla Chips (8 to 10 cups)

1 pound lump crabmeat

1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1/4 cup green onions, finely sliced

3/4 cup sour cream, for garnishing

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves, for garnishing

Garden Fresh Salsa of choice for serving

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat and whisk in the flour. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes. Do not allow the flour to color. While whisking constantly, add the milk in a steady stream. Add the green chiles and bring the sauce to a boil. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until the sauce is thickened and bubbly. Add the pepper jack, salt and cayenne pepper and stir until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Cover and remove from heat.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large, ovenproof shallow casserole (or on a large baking sheet) spread half of the tortilla chips in an even layer. Top with half of the crabmeat, half of the corn and half of the cheddar cheese. Top with remaining tortilla chips, crabmeat and corn. Pour the hot cheese sauce over the crab and corn, then evenly spread the remaining grated cheddar over the top. Bake until the cheese is melted and bubbly and the nachos are heated through (8 to 10 minutes). Garnish with the sliced green onions, sour cream and cilantro. Serve with your favorite Garden Fresh Salsa.

2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

2 cups Garden Fresh Chipotle Salsa

Butter or olive oil

Lay the breasts on wax paper and pound with a mallet until they are twice the original size. Divide the cheese and salsa into 4 parts. Place 1/4 of the salsa on each breast, then top with 1/4 of the cheese. Roll up each breast and secure with toothpicks.

Place the breasts side by side in a shallow baking dish. Brush them with the butter or oil. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Yield: 4 servings

Heat Scale: Medium

Squash and Corn Bake with Screamin' Hot Salsa

Here's a quick and easy vegetarian side dish that's fired up with one of Garden Fresh Salsas hottest fresh salsas. Serve it with any of your favorite grilled meat or poultry dishes.

1 teaspoon corn oil

4 zucchinis, chopped

4 green bell peppers, seeds removed, chopped

3 onions, sliced

3 cups corn kernels, drained

1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder

1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic

Salt to taste

1 cup Garden Fresh Screamin' Hot Salsa

1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat the oil in a skillet and saute the zucchinis, bell peppers, onions, and corn together until the vegetables are cooked but still firm. Place the sauteed vegetables in a large glass baking dish. Stir in the onion powder, garlic, and salt. Top with the salsa and cheddar cheese, if desired. Bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Heat Scale: Medium Hot

Jack suggests serving this salad for brunch with espresso and sweet muffins. For a more elegant presentation, see the note under Variation.

1 banana

4 peeled and cored fresh pineapple slices

2 cups Garden Fresh Mango Peach Salsa

1 orange, separated into segments

1 mango, peeled and sliced

Place the butter lettuce leaves in 4 individual salad bowls. Slice the banana and divide the slices evenly into the four bowls. Add the pineapple slices in the center of each bowl and spoon 1/2 cup salsa into them. Add the orange segments and the mango slices, chill for 1 hour, and serve.

Yield: 4 servings

Heat Scale: Mild

Variation: Instead of using the mango slices, puree the mango with yogurt and a little vanilla in a blender and drizzle over the top of the salads as an extra dressing. Garnish with pieces of fresh coconut.

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