2000 Best Merchandising Ideas: Hot Sauces

Americans have always assimilated foods and seasonings from around the world, with one ethnic food after another being absorbed, adapted, and thoroughly enjoyed throughout the country. What is exotic one day is de jour the next.

This is as true for hot sauces as it is for Italian seasonings. Once we try a food, spice, or seasoning we like, we just can't get enough of it. Hot sauces have always been popular in New Mexico, California, Texas, and Arizona because of their proximity to Mexico and residents' familiarity with Latin American cuisine that is famous for its use of the chile or capsicum, the basis of these sauces. Louisiana has its own style of hot sauces as well, and Florida's foods often combine the Caribbean flavors of some hot sauces with fresh seafood and vegetables.

Now however, the interest in hot sauces has spread throughout the country propelled by a demand for different flavors and new twists to old recipes.

It's A Guy Thing

Although hot sauces from mild to body-melting are used by people throughout the country, it's the guys who regularly head for the hot sauce aisle to see which hot sauces are new and different.

This is definitely a market to attract for several reasons. One, if you emphasize your hot sauces and expand your selections, you will continue to bring men into the store as they look for the latest in this category. Secondly, once in the store, you can take them beyond the barbecue for hot-sauce uses. You can encourage them to try different foods (punched up with hot sauces), purchase cookware, pick up new kitchen utensils, and choose cookbooks that cater to men. In other words, once you get men coming into your store where they are treated as valuable customers, they will return, and become some of your most loyal customers. Finally, any woman will tell you that men are notoriously difficult to buy for, and they are constantly trying to think of gifts for birthdays, holidays, and Father's Day. When your male customers become interested in various items in your store, gift givers will head to your store to buy them presents.

Start enticing the fellows into the store through their soft spot — outdoor cooking. In addition to the regular barbecue accoutrements, line up your hot sauces. Pyramid them in order of "Heat," placing them across your display shelf above the barbecue area or popping them into galvanized buckets and positioning them throughout the display.

Signs are exceptionally important to any hot sauce display. Since every hot sauce has its own unique characteristics as far as flavor intensity and heat level are concerned, you need to inform your customers about the differences among these sauces. One way is to do "Flame" displays. One flame is mild, two is medium, three begins the hot range, four is for tongue-burning, and five for eye-watering, can't-breathe dragon sauces. In addition, hang a chile poster that shows the different chiles, their intensities, and their origins.

Once the guys have been introduced to your selection of hot sauces via the barbecue, continue to encourage them to use hot sauces in a variety of foods. In the fall, hot sauces put a bite into dips, making them ideal snacks for watching football and the World Series. In the winter, hearty soups get an extra kick when a medium-hot sauce is added just before the soup is served. And in the spring, something as simple as a spinach-artichoke dip can become a real hot item with the addition of a little hot sauce.

Pick a Sauce

Customer education concerning hot sauces doesn't end with the first purchase. Ask your customers to fill out their names, phone numbers, and the types of hot sauces they are purchasing. Allow your customers to try several different heat intensities and types of hot sauces, then ask them to vote on their favorites. You want to find out more about your customers' preferences in hot sauces so you can provide the best variety. Ask them why they like a particular type of sauce and how they use it. Do they have any great recipes they'd like to share with others? Find out what types of sauces they'd like included in your inventory.

You can also ask them a fun question — What packaging is the best among your hot sauces? Studies have shown that many people are initially attracted to a particular hot sauce because of the sauce's name and its packaging. Finally, ask them if they were creating a hot sauce, what name would they give it? Be careful — your customers who like the outrageous names of some hot sauces may come up with some wild suggestions for their own hot sauces!

Snapshots

Capitalize on men's interest in hot sauces by creating displays and demonstrations that feature hot sauces in a variety of recipes.

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Use hot sauces for your own barbecues, if available, and show how they intensify flavors in meats.

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Actively involve your customers in obtaining more information about their preferences in hot sauces, their use of these products, and their suggestions for additional hot sauce varieties.