{"id":4422,"date":"2021-10-20T13:15:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-20T13:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwstaging.keesdeboekhouder.nl\/ik-had-nooit-gedacht-dat-ik-importeur-van-tortillas-zou-worden-let-de-jong\/"},"modified":"2024-10-11T11:39:37","modified_gmt":"2024-10-11T11:39:37","slug":"id-never-thought-i-would-import-tortillas-let-de-jong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwstaging.keesdeboekhouder.nl\/en\/id-never-thought-i-would-import-tortillas-let-de-jong\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI\u2019d never thought I would import tortillas\u201d \u2013 Let de Jong"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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For a long time, Let de Jong (46) worked as a concept developer and designer. But she always had a great passion for food as well. She took a year off, threw herself into Mexican cuisine and came up with Let\u2019s Salsa. Natural, flavoursome and pure sauces that go well with a tasty quesadilla or carnita taco, but can also be paired with kimchi, ceviche and even a new pair of glasses\u2026 Glasses? Yes, Let developed a special carrot salsa for Ace & Tate.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Let, please tell us: Why salsas?
<\/strong>\u2018I used to go to California quite regularly and I always really enjoyed Mexican food when I was there. It turned into a thing that kept crossing my path, so eventually I began looking for the best ingredients like real Mexican cornmeal, tomatillos and peppers with which I started cooking and experimenting. In 2015, I bought a scooter that I turned into a taco truck for food festivals. At one point, I\u2019d developed different sauces for every taco and I decided to bottle them. I make all the sauces and artwork myself. And I also import original soft corn tortillas.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Where do you get the most inspiration or ideas from: flavours or design?
<\/strong>\u2018It\u2019s a combination of both really. When I did a collab with Ace & Tate I thought: We need to do something with carrots, as they\u2019re related to sight. So I drew a bunny wearing broken glasses. In this particular case things were based less on flavour but more on the brand, the things that would suit it and how I can get to the core of that. The great thing is that there\u2019s a very well-known sauce in Yucatan in Mexico that has a carrot base, so it all clicked eventually.\u2019<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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What other collaborations have you done with Let\u2019s Salsa?
<\/strong>\u2018I have collabs with brands like G-Star, Adidas, Lot61, Lima and Chiapas Taco Cartel. I make Coffee Company\u2019s signature ketchup: Saucesome. It\u2019s not a Mexican salsa, but it does have a punch so it\u2019s a typical Let\u2019s Salsa sauce. These collaborations are often formed by coincidence: Coffee Company and I met through a catering job. In the case of Ace & Tate, its head office was located close to the Louie Louie restaurant for which I also made a sauce and who I got in contact with through Yvette van Boven. Such collabs are really instructive, because you emerge in a company and get the chance to look around. Ace & Tate for example, has a unique marketing strategy that I find really cool.\u2019<\/p>\n

Who are your main customers?
<\/strong>\u2018My main customers are stores such as Marqt and Crisp, which focus more on the Randstad and are interested in working with local parties. If you like tacos, there\u2019s a good chance that you\u2019re eating Let\u2019s Salsa tortillas, because I supply to many food businesses and they\u2019re for sale at stores such as Marqt.\u2019<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Do you like entrepreneurship and how did you approach it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018I always took very small steps and made very small investments. For example, I made my own simple device to label bottles, I researched how to preserve sauces through natural preservation and how to increase production. I am thrilled that I was able to prove that you can create a healthy and profitable business with real ingredients and natural preservation methods. Everyone always said: \u201cThat will never work!\u201d\u2019<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Can you make a living out of it now?
<\/strong>\u2018I would be able to make a living out of it if I\u2019d step on the gas more. But doing everything yourself is a lot and not all facets of entrepreneurship suit me equally well. So I\u2019m looking for a party that wants to run the business \u2013 production, logistics, sales and marketing \u2013 and expand it so I would be able to focus more on the illustrations and flavours. Because that\u2019s what I enjoy the most.<\/p>\n

I spend about half the week on Let\u2019s Salsa. And in the other half I\u2019m a concept and campaign developer for, among others, the municipality of Amsterdam. This gives me a nice mix between my own kingdom called Let\u2019s Salsa and being a small cog in a large organisation.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Do you have any advice for creative entrepreneurs?
<\/strong>\u2018Above all, just do it and don\u2019t hesitate because you have to start somewhere. When you start overthinking you\u2019ll only see problems ahead instead of just getting started. You\u2019ll find out what works and what doesn\u2019t, and what suits you and what doesn\u2019t along the way. When all you do is write business plans on your computer you\u2019ll get stuck thinking: Oh, I need to go to the bank in order to start\u2026 But there are so many things you don\u2019t need a loan for.

Which brings me to my next point: take small steps, do something that\u2019s close to your heart and be flexible about what your goal should be. When something you hadn\u2019t thought of beforehand crosses your path, it\u2019s useful to have a flexible attitude and just move along with it. I, for example, never thought I would import tortillas. And I rent kitchen space so I didn\u2019t have to invest in expensive kitchen appliances. It allows me to be flexible and I will easily be able to outsource the production of the sauces in the future, for example. I also work with a small group of people on an on-call basis and we always just try to make large batches in a single day, which works very well for me. Another great factor for my success is Jess, my girlfriend, who\u2019s a strong woman who always supports me.\u2019<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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What does success mean to you?
<\/strong>\u2018Staying close to who you are and having a good time, having fun and keeping it that way. Of course, I also like to sell a lot of products, because that\u2019s also a raison d\u2019\u00eatre in this society we\u2019re all part of. But if you\u2019re doing less well on an economic level but are having a good time nonetheless, then you\u2019re also successful in my opinion.\u2019<\/p>\n

What\u2019s another dream for Let\u2019s Salsa?
<\/strong>\u2018I think it would be really cool if the artwork of Let\u2019s Salsa would be used on or for clothing items. Who knows, maybe one day there will be a collab with an Amsterdam clothing brand.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Instagram:\u00a0@letssalsa.amsterdam<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Let\u2019s Salsa voor Kees de Boekhouder<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For a long time, Let de Jong (46) worked as a concept developer and designer. But she always had a great passion for food as well. She took a year off, threw herself into Mexican cuisine and came up with Let\u2019s Salsa. Natural, flavoursome and pure sauces that go well with a tasty quesadilla or…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-profiles-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwstaging.keesdeboekhouder.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwstaging.keesdeboekhouder.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwstaging.keesdeboekhouder.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwstaging.keesdeboekhouder.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwstaging.keesdeboekhouder.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4422"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wwwstaging.keesdeboekhouder.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4428,"href":"https:\/\/wwwstaging.keesdeboekhouder.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4422\/revisions\/4428"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwstaging.keesdeboekhouder.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwstaging.keesdeboekhouder.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwstaging.keesdeboekhouder.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwstaging.keesdeboekhouder.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}