David’s wife, Michele Bernard, explained that because he tended to make salsa at home on days his sons played baseball, the siblings dubbed it Game Day Salsa. The office snack also became a hit with the couple’s family and friends.
Upon retiring in 2012, the couple entered David’s salsas in the Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival, where he placed third, which was followed by additional contest wins at other salsa competitions. When a friend orchestrated a blind taste test for a college project, David’s salsa beat out national salsa brands in the 100-person taste panel.
Buoyed by these successes, the Bernards started selling the salsa at the McKinney Farmers Market at Chestnut Square in 2016.
After their first day at the market, the couple started giving out samples. The samples increased their sales, and the Bernards sold 10 times the amount they had on their first day at the farmers market once this was implemented. They soon changed their product name from Game Day Salsa to Bernard’s Gourmet Foods.
“What we found through market research at [the] farmers market, the people purchasing it weren’t the jocks, the tailgaters—the folks who were very attracted to our products were the gourmet cooks,” Michele said.
In 2018, they entered H-E-B’s Quest for Texas Best and were named one of 25 finalists out of 705 entries. By January 2019, the salsas were on H-E-B shelves across Texas.
David creates recipes incorporating his salsas, such as chipotle black beans, migas, and creamy mango pineapple habanero chicken and rice. The recipes can be found on the Bernard’s Gourmet Foods website and on the salsa jar labels.
Regarding why they started this business, David said, “This was going to be a retirement gig.” Michelle added, “We got a little bigger.”
Bernard’s Gourmet Foods
Products sold at McKinney Farmers Market at 315 S. Chestnut St. and online
214-726-6209
www.bernardsgourmetfoods.com
