Tierra Negra® Premium Mexican Dark Salsa finalist in the 2025 NEXTY Awards

Chicago, IL, February 17, 2025 --(PR.com)-- The spicy and delicious Tierra Negra® Premium Mexican Dark Salsa was announced as a finalist in the 2025 Expo West NEXTY Awards “Spice and Condiments” category. This is the perfect opportunity for successful third-generation Chicago Mexican restauranteur Ivan Gutierrez to showcase his unique, authentic dark salsa to industry buyers, retailers, and distributors.

Ivan Gutierrez, Founder & CEO of Tierra Negra® Salsa, says, "Tierra Negra is inspired by the cultural richness of my ancestry and the example of hard work that was taught to me since childhood in our family-owned restaurants. My wish is for Tierra Negra to be savored and enjoyed by all.” The 2025 Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California is expected to have 65,000 attendees. (The show is for trade professionals only and is not open to the general public.)

From more than 1,000 product submissions, 161 finalists in 34 categories were selected for the 2025 NEXTY Awards. Judged by the criteria of innovation, inspiration, and integrity, these winning products are bold trailblazers. The lineup of finalists for the “Spices and Condiments” category are Tierra Negra® Premium Mexican Dark Salsa, Fabalish Chili Crisp Ranch Dip by Fabalish x Mr Bing, Simply Organic Sea Lettuce Finishing Salt, Pure Indian Foods Organic Fermented Garlic Pickle, and Afia Foods Mediterranean Spice Blends.

Selecting the NEXTY Awards finalists is never an easy job. During multiple rounds of preliminary judging, each product is prepared, sampled, and deliberated over by New Hope Network editorial and standards teams, among others. The finalists are selected for each category.

For the next round of judging, experts in retail, finance, data insights, marketing, journalism and more will share their insights and perspectives. Each finalist is once again sampled and discussed among the judges before one winner is selected per category, in addition to some NEXTY Editor's Choice Award recipients.

This authentic dark salsa was incubated at The Hatchery in Chicago, a food incubator and production facility dedicated to supporting food entrepreneurs. "We are so proud of what Ivan has accomplished within The Hatchery's Incubation Program," said Natalie Shmulik, Chief Strategy & Incubation Officer, ICNC/The Hatchery. "Our team has been adding Tierra Negra salsa to everything, and we cannot wait to see the product take off on more store shelves.”

Tierra Negra's mission is to create unexpected Mexican flavors using modern twists with century-old ingredients. Tierra Negra Salsa is a unique blend of olive oil, pasilla chili pepper, garlic, guajillo pepper, cane sugar, granulated onions, annatto, cumin, ground cloves, and coriander. This authentic Mexican dark salsa will transform your tacos, omelets, steaks, seafood, quesadillas, sauces, bruschetta, and more.

The Tierra Negra® Premium Mexican Dark Salsa is available at the following Meijer Supermarket locations in their Favorites section through May 1, 2025: Algonquin, Aurora, Bloomingdale, Bolingbrook, Elgin, Machesney Park, McHenry, Oswego, Plainfield, Rockford, Rolling Meadows, Round Lake Beach, Saint Charles, and Sycamore.

Tierra Negra can be purchased at the following stores: Agora Market in Bucktown, Southport Grocery & Cafe in Lake View, Potash Market in Gold Coast, and Central Market in Houston, Plano, Dallas, San Antonio, Southlake, Forth Worth, and Austin, Texas. And in Pete's Fresh Market in Willowbrook, Bridgeview, Oak Park, and Glen Ellyn. Our newest is Veronica’s Fresh Produce in Yakima, Washington. And more to be announced soon.

Who will return from Expo West with a NEXTY Awards trophy? The winners will be announced live at Natural Products Expo West during the NEXTY Awards Celebration and Ceremony, on March 6, at the Marriott, Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. All finalists will be listed in the Spring 2025 issue of Natural Foods Merchandiser (NFM) magazine and inclusion in the Expo West 2025 NEXTY Awards finalist gallery featured on newhope.com.

Stay tuned for news at expowest.com and www.tierranegrasalsa.com.

For wholesale orders of Tierra Negra® Premium Mexican Dark Salsa, contact Founder & CEO Ivan Gutierrez. Individuals can order at www.tierranegrasalsa.com.