The Sauce Queens Get Fresh and Grow Their Old Town Business
Two local moms slowly begin to build up their salsa and sauce business while juggling kids, family life and everything else in between.
Mary Ritley-White is the yin to Eli Rakis’ yang. Or maybe it’s the other way around. “We’ve been friends for three years,” says Ritley-White. “It feels more like 20,” says Rakis, adding “or maybe 200.” How ever long they’ve known each other, they’ve found the right recipe. It all started with salsa. “We are both salsa snobs for sure,” they agree. The duo’s business, the Sauce Queens, has taken off in just a few months with their products now in five Whole Foods stores. They have branched out from the Old Town store to Arlington, Fair Lakes and Charlottesville in Virginia and Foggy Bottom in Washington, DC. They met through the Washington Street Preschool in Old Town and both Old Town residents have kids at Lyles-Crouch elementary school. “…
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