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Utah’s Salsa Queen is closing her business, but she says she’s not going away

Salsa Queen sold salsas and dips in grocery stores and at farmers markets.

(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) SalsaQueen Zapata at her Salt Lake City office on Friday, May 14, 2021.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) SalsaQueen Zapata at her Salt Lake City office on Friday, May 14, 2021.

Salsa Queen — a well-known Utah salsa brand that was a fixture at farmers markets and grocery stores and a participant in Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race” — is shutting down, according to a Facebook post.

Owner SalsaQueen Zapata wrote in the post that “this decision was not easy. This was never just a business to me. It was my heart outside of my body. It was early mornings, late nights, lessons that humbled me, moments that made me so proud, and people who changed my life forever.”

Zapata went on to thank her team and the community that supported Salsa Queen, and she hinted at future projects to come.

“I will continue dreaming bigger and bolder, just like me,” she wrote. “I am so excited for what I will build next.”

Originally from Mexico, Zapata got her start making salsa out of her Magna home to support her seven children. When she became a U.S. citizen, she legally took the name SalsaQueen Zapata.

Her products could be found in Utah and nationwide. Locally, Salsa Queen salsas and dips could be found at Harmons, Smith’s and Sprouts Farmers Market.

Salsa Queen filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in February. In the Bankruptcy Code, Chapter 7 provides for “liquidation,” or “the sale of a debtor’s nonexempt property and the distribution of the proceeds to creditors.”

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