Shes been my salsa dealer for at least...two years!

[show music] In the small town of Deer Park, Washington a taste of El Paso, Texas has taken root.

For Rebecca Honshiko, salsa isnt just a condiment.

[Rebecca: All right.

What did we decide on?]

It's a connection to home family, and community.

[Rebecca] My son, he thought pepper was spicy.

And now he eats it like his father, so.

They eat it like cereal.

I can't even keep it like in my household.

And when I run out, it's, it's bad.

Rebecca moved from El Paso in 2007.

Missing the flavors of home, she reached out to her aunt for the family salsa recipe.

At first, she made it for friends and family, but before long, word spread and Los Cinco Locos Salsa was born.

[Rebecca] I first started off at the Deer Park Market, and I'm still there currently.

That was about maybe four years ago.

I have people coming from all over and they'll buy like six, eight at a time.

[Customer: Ill do two verde and one red.]

My favorite thing people say is like, I came here just for you, and they'll run in and grab their salsa on the way to their lake, and then they'll take off, [Rebecca: Do you eat all these all or do you pick it up for other people?]

[Customer: No, no, I eat them.]

[Rebecca and daughter laugh] [Rebecca: Theres no shame!

Theres no shame!]

You know, or I'm picking up for my whole office, you know, those kind of things.

I always just get a kick out of that.

So that makes me happy.

Starting a food business wasn't easy.

Finding a commercial kitchen was a challenge until the local Eagles Club opened their doors.

Their motto is “people helping people”.

And they have, they have helped me.

I wouldn't have been able to start without them.

From there, production became a true family effort.

[Rebecca] The whole family's in the production.

Whether it's my kids coming to help me.

My husband does a lot of the packing.

So it is a family production from start to finish.

But behind every jar is a long day's work.

Roasting, blending, packaging and always keeping flavors consistent.

When I first started, I just kind of threw things in a food processor and hoped for the best and didn't measure anything actually.

Even when I asked my aunt for the recipe, she was like, I don't know how much, you know, she didn't know any measurements because we didn't measure anything.

And so when I was doing it as a business, I was like, all right, I got to get some measurements for consistency.

[Rebecca: All of thats in there and then Ill just measure my salt.]

But sometimes the ingredients might be more potent than others so like my ingredients like for cilantro.

If I don't get good stuff, it'll make or break, like, my batch.

It's not bad, but when I have good cilantro?

It's definitely like a lot better.

Her signature comes from Chile de arbol, a pepper with heat that builds slowly, creating flavor without overpowering.

It's not a knock your socks off heat.

It's an enjoyable heat.

The name Los Cinco Locos ...the five crazies... started as a family joke.

But now it's part of the brand's identity.

When I was doing it for friends, I'm like, oh, we have five people, and we're all kind of crazy in our own way.

And so I just did it as a joke.

Actually when people come see me, they're like, well, which one are you?

Which crazy one are you?

Or if the kids are there, I'm like, oh, that's number 5 or whatever.

So, yeah, it was kind of funny to start off with.

Rebecca doesn't have a strict business plan.

For her, the joy comes from connecting with her community and letting the salsa speak for itself.

Where I see it in maybe a year, five years.

Honestly, I dont really have too much of a plan, which is kind of a bad business plan, but I've always just kind of let it be what it is.

And if grows into something, it grows into something.

If I just do this, I'm okay with that because I enjoy what I do now.