Our Story
Sierra Food Development & Sierra Madre Grocery Company
Karen Swisher established Sierra Madre Food Development Company in 1993. Her experience includes over 26 years in the food industry and development for a vast variety of new food product concepts including flavored tortillas, low fat donuts, microwavable English muffins, salsas, seasoning blends and gourmet sauces. Her sense of creativity has led her to excel in development of all natural, organic, low fat and wheat free food products. She does contemporary recipe development and product concept design from basic ideas.
Sierra Madre Grocery Company has expanded product offerings to include delicious snack foods, sauces and the flavorful Sierra Seasoning Rub
In 1997 Karen Swisher started Huntington Food Products with her sister Kirsten Pighin. Together they developed and patented the pan design, mix and process for low fat donuts. The products were marketed under the Van de Kamp label along with a line of Savory Flavored English Muffins.
In January 2010 Sierra Madre Grocery Company launched, introducing a line of bruschetta salsas for the gourmet specialty markets. Roasted Garlic Olive Bruschetta and Black Bean & Corn Bruschetta are among customers’ favorites. Since its introduction Sierra Madre Grocery Company has expanded product offerings to include delicious snack foods, sauces and the flavorful Sierra Seasoning Rub that enhance the taste of beef, lamb, pork, and poultry. It is great for oven roasting or grilling.
Karen Swisher earned her degree in Food Science from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo and has worked in corporations including Del Monte Frozen Foods, Specialty Brands (Marie’s Salad Dressings and Spice Island Spices), Carnation/Nestle, Lawry’s Foods and Asta Food Research.
Testimonials
Our family has recently discovered, and has come to love Sierra Madre Grocery Company’s Roasted Garlic & Olive Bruschetta Salsa. My husband uses it as a substitute for puttanesca sauce when he wants to make and quick and easy halibut puttanesca. Our son was given some as a gift, and likes it so much, he hides it in his room! Being a health conscious family, I like to put both the Roasted Garlic and Olive, and the Black Bean & Corn Salsas out as a snack with thinly sliced cucumber chips instead of salty tortilla chips.
Buckwheat
Seasonings are an important part of how we cook. Sierra Madre Grocery Company’s seasonings provide rich flavors and are a great compliment when we prepare fish, game or chicken. It is our first choice when we BBQ or cook.
The Kahn Family
We have been fans of the Sierra Madre Grocery Company since its inception. The salsas have been a favorite on a variety of dishes from home-made burritos’ & tacos, breakfast of bacon and eggs or just for snacking. The combination of flavors is outstanding and we can’t keep enough of it around
The Kahn Family
We love the salsas and the seasonings. We are going to be giving several of the gift boxes with the salsas and seasonings to many friends and family this year for Christmas. I just gave a gift box to my best friend’s mother and father and they were very excited about it. The bruschetta/olive salsa is my absolute favorite and we use the seasoning rub all the time. Thank you for making such wonderful products.
Christine and Jeff Porter
Karen – Sierra Seasoning Rub is the best ever – it’s great on baby-back ribs, chicken, and steak. We seasoned our Thanksgiving turkey with it this year and our family and friends loved it.
Jan and Tom
Dear Karen,
I’m delighted to tell you how much we enjoy your Roasted Garlic & Olive Bruschetta Salsa and the Black Bean & Corn Salsa (my special favorite) with chips or crackers. They are a big hit at the snack table at meetings–a refreshing change from cookies and sweets.
Your seasoning rub really perks up chicken or beef.Shirley Henderson
These products are absolutely delicious. How you were able to capture the fresh flavors in your bruschetta salsas is amazing! Bravo!
Mission Flavors
Have bought both the bruschetta salsa and the snack mix and they are both delicious. Served them to my friends and they thought I had made the bruschetta sauce myself. It does have that homemade taste, yummy!
Sherry
Altadena, CA
Karen Swisher is a very creative designer of foods. She helped me with my Lavender short bread cookies. If I ever go back into the food business the first person I will call is Swisher!
Rona Barrett
www.ronabarrett.comI LOVE food — but too often things like salsas and seasonings start to taste the same. That isn’t the case here, everything from Sierra Madre Grocery Company tastes fresher and more vibrant. The bruschetta salsas and the snack mix are so yummy, that everyone thinks I have I have slaved away in the kitchen!
Janis M. Dalessandro
The Salsa from Sierra Madre Grocery is so spectacular and versatile we use for breakfast on eggs, lunch on quiches and pizza and dinner as a pasta sauce or make a chili with it! Low in salt and no sugar makes this a healthy alternative with a powerful delicious flavor. Now I am hooked on the rub as it comes with a recipe to make these savory nuts that are beyond belief. Hope they make more food products cause we are Sierra Grocery Groupies.
Karen and Denis Keegan
Karen,
My family LOVES the bruschetta salsa. Yes, we use it to top crisp bread as an appetizer – but its also terrific served over a main dish of baked chicken or sliced pork tenderloin. We even had it over pasta. Perfectly delicious!
Rita
My family and I consider ourselves salsa aficionados, carefully dissecting the pluses and minuses of the salsas we enjoy. Sierra Madre Grocery’s “Roasted Garlic and Olive Bruschetta Salsa” ranks right at the top of the addiction scale! Can’t get enough of it! Kudos for the right blend of taste and texture, with just enough kick!
Chris Bertrand
Mountain Views News
