Jim Buddington of Sisters Salsa By Emily Paquin IN A WORLD laden with preservatives, it's nice to know there aresome companies that value quality over quantity. When you open a container of Sisters Salsa, there is no denying the freshness of the product. As a college student, I've endured the wrath of the college cafeteria; the over-processed, overcooked food leaves little to the imagination. Whenever I come home to Blue Hill I can finally enjoy food. One of my favorite treats is Sisters Salsa. Ever since I was a kid I remember my parents bringing home Sister Salsa. The chunks of tomatoes, onions, and cilantro perk up even the most jaded taste buds. Because Sisters Salsa is not over processed, or overcooked in the traditional "spaghetti style" way, it gives the product a unique, fresh taste. In fact, the salsa is not cooked at all. On the post note to the distributors and handlers of Sisters Salsa it states that the product is “ a live food” with "naturally occurring enzymes and yeasts maintained naturally by a pH level 3.5”. The freshness of Sisters Salsa is undeniable, not only in taste, but also in its general makeup. I recently went to talk to Jim Buddington, the owner of Sisters Salsa. I knew that people in the Blue Hill community loved having Sisters Salsa not only because of the great taste, but also because of the personal attributes of the company. As I spoke with Jim about various aspects of Sisters Salsa, he told me about how many tomatoes the company goes through in a given week (about 150 cases) and about how much salsa they sold in the last year (about 90 tons). For me, however, the most interesting part of the interview occurred at the very end. We were looking at different designs that Sisters Salsa was thinking of using for ads in The Captain D paper and for new summer labels when Jim told me the story behind the original label. The two girls holding up the Sisters Salsa sign on every container were actually designed by the previous owner's young daughters, hence the name Sisters Salsa. When I asked Jim if there was any relevance behind having the two sisters design displayed on the product, he began to speak about his views on what made a good product. “Sisters Salsa is a family experience," he noted. “I like to think of the whole family sitting down at the table and eating salsa together. One of my major goals in creating the company was to make a product that brought families together and made people happy." As he showed me one of the summer designs I couldn't help but smile at the girls who were donning beach hats and inner tubes. "That's the reaction I want," he said, pointing to my grin. “I want people to smile when they see the girls. You need to make a product catch the consumer's eye. You can't just put a label on something calling it 'good salsa'; you have to make it fun." My Dad is proud to have Sister Salsa as one of his paper’s advertisers. Jim told me that he does little in the way of advertising with other publications , feeling quite confidant that Sister Salsa sells itself. “People love quality, and that is what is important, not fancy advertising campaigns," he asserts. "Yes, we do have fun with our Sisters logo, but when people tell other people just how fresh and full of taste Sister Salsa is, I have done my job. That is what sells our Salsa. Plain and simple, that’s the secret!” Sisters Salsa is spreading farther and farther beyond the Down East area. At this time, it is available throughout Maine and into New Hampshire, and Jim is eyeing Massachusetts. He says the product is earning real name recognition. "People have come to associate it with Blue Hill," he notes. “I've had many people say to me, 'You're from Blue Hill? That's where that salsa is from!'" Along with his brother Larry and several employees, Jim does a fair amount of the production work. “You get used to a few tears in your life. That's the price of working with onions,” he says with a smile. “Running the company, doing sales, marketing and public relations along with some deliveries is a lot of fun,” he insists. “But it's given me a new hair shade—Grey.” As I concluded the interview, I realized that Sisters Salsa is not just a product. It is part of the community and centers around the importance of family. Blue Hill is proud of its company, just as it appreciates the jobs and income it has brought. “As children sit outside with their parents and watch the Sisters Salsa truck drive by, and this makes them smile, then one of my biggest goals has been met,” he reflects. “I want my product to create smiles!”