As a senior at the University of Sioux Falls, Nolan Wiese planned to play his final year of tennis, graduate with a degree in criminal justice and attend law school. His plans did not include owning a local salsa business.
That was before April.
In April, Wiese and his girlfriend, Megan Aanenson, a junior business major and soccer player at USF, purchased Backyard Salsa. At the time, Wiese had little know-how in the business world. Now, five months later, the two of them have taken what started out as one man’s side project and turned it into something much more — something with a future very different from the one they had in mind for themselves.
Backyard Salsa is a business that literally took root in one man’s backyard garden. The salsa, made from fresh organic produce, found its home on the shelves of Cleaver’s Market, owned by Aanenson’s father. In its beginnings, production and sales were mild, so to speak. In fact, when Wiese and Aanenson bought the business, it had been off the shelves for about a year. Since then, Wiese and Aanenson have worked hard to stretch Backyard Salsa from its home at Cleaver’s Market to other Sioux Falls locations, such as Sunshine Foods, Home Porch, and Taylor’s Pantry. They also unveiled a new look and label for the salsa last week.
Though Wiese and Aanenson do not grow the ingredients themselves, they buy fresh from local wholesalers and do all the cooking and canning themselves. Their flavors include hot, mild, queso and the soon-coming black bean and corn.
“Once they try it, they’ll buy it,” says Nolan with confidence. “I haven’t gotten sick of it yet, and I don’t think I will.”
Wiese and Aanenson both have quite a year ahead of them just in terms of school and athletics alone. Adding a small business to the mix will be no easy task, but with their dedication, enthusiasm and learned-business savvy, they are ready to tackle the job.
And as for law school?
“Those plans have been put on hold.” Nolan. “We’re just going with the flow right now; it’s very exciting.”
Their future goal for the business is to make Backyard Salsa a statewide entity. And with their salsa proving to be just as fresh, bold, and fun as its producers, that dream seems highly likely.
For more information, check out Backyard Salsa on Facebook and Twitter.
