Taking a Family Recipe to Market
"All of our products bear the Women-Owned logo. In fact, My Brother's Organic Tortilla Chips was one of the first food products to have the image on the packaging when WBENC rolled it out in 2015."
Helen Lampkin, founder of My Brother's Salsa, has been a certified Women's Business Enterprise (WBE) and Women's Business Council - Southwest (WBCS) member since 2011. Based in Bentonville, Arkansas, My Brother's Salsa is a family operated business with ten varieties of all-natural salsa made with choice ingredients. In 2016, she decided to get more involved with WBCS by joining the certification committee as a regional reviewer. Here she tells us about utilizing her WBE certification in the consumer products market and how certification has helped her business grow.
How/why did you start this business and how did you learn about certification?
Having a passion for cooking, sharing food and a vision for bringing families around the table, I took a family recipe to market. I founded the company in 2003 and began production in 2004. My family joined me in 2011 in the actual business. Today, My Brother’s Salsa is distributed mainly in the South, Southeast, East, and Mid-Atlantic covering over 3,000 doors and 20,000 points of distribution.
I had read about certification in general news but was encouraged by our Sam’s Club buyer in 2011 to pursue certification.
How has WBCS membership benefitted your business? (Any stats or figures you can provide would be much appreciated.)
We have been able to make connections that have led to conversations and occasionally buyer meetings through the Diversity offices (i.e. Walmart, Ahold, Target).
How do you utilize the Women-Owned logo on your products?
All of our products bear the Women-Owned logo. In fact, My Brother’s Organic Corn Tortilla Chips was one of the first food products to have the image on packaging when WBENC rolled it out in 2015.
We also use the logo on our business cards, sales, and marketing documents like our website.
What is the best reason for another WBE to get certified?
WBE certification opens doors, networking, and support from other WBE’s.