Creating Differentiated Sauces, Condiments & Kitchen Tools - Product People

Let me be the first to tell you, Flavortown isn't a place, it's a state of mind.

Sauce newcomers like Truff, Sir Kensingtons and more have taken advantage of a huge change in consumer tastes over the last decade.

There’s a generational shift happening as consumers begin to prefer niche options for them, whether regional, aesthetically, by values, or made for their background. Consumers want unique, niche brands with values and more flavor. Every major producer is getting market share taken by dozens of new entrepreneurs, & there’s room for MUCH more.

We’ve seen celebrity chefs and restaurants break into the category, with brands like Momofuku entering direct to consumer and channel sales.

At the same time, brands like Truff seemingly come out of nowhere and dominate online ads and retail, selling products at price points most would think consumers wouldn't accept. Times are changing.

So how can?you?make a product that stands out?

This is actually easier than one might think.

The big players sell consistency. And they need to move in massive volume to even enter a category.

A giant success for most entrepreneurs is an afterthought for them.

To succeed, niche down!

Whether you’re just passionate about the space, or you have a regional restaurant or online following around food… The path to succeed is there with a differentiated, interesting product, and direct access to the world’s top suppliers.

Here’s my cheat sheet of how to make a sauce or condiment unique in its category.

HIGHER END

?Go “restaurant grade” with higher-end materials and richer composition (more oil/butter)

?Execute “small batch” with unique, differing tastes and approaches for connoisseurs.

HEALTHY OPTIONS

?Make a popular sauce with no additives, artificial flavors or preservatives and focus on rapid supply chain turnaround for freshness.

?Low to no sugar version of any popular sauce. Surprisingly low-hanging fruit.

FLAVOR

?Add truffles. You might laugh, but we have not left the truffle era. The taste can be applied to many sauce options

?Exotic flavor combos. There’s room for “out there” & impulse buy options that are good for a unique meal. Especially if packaging is a talking point.

AESTHETIC

?Look and feel. I’m convinced part of Jacobsens and Sir Kensington’s success besides just great products is they look modern at home.

?User experience. I love the Graza olive oil for its squeezable form factor that’s more along the lines of real user needs.

Lastly, I've harped on this before, but

JUST ADD CONTENT

Are you a chef, cook, food influencer, just generally someone who cares? Do you make content around food?

Bundle that content with the sale. Recipe books, recipe videos, kitchen organizing, zen and the art of grass fed beef... It's a differentiator!

Now… let’s dig into tools.

Mannkitchen has a pepper shaker milled from a solid chunk of aerospace-grade aluminum that spits out pepper at an astonishing speed. I laughed when I first saw it until I seasoned a steak yesterday with 50 cranks... They're onto something. You can differentiate any physical product by making it “heavy duty” or extreme. Imagine owning the Amazon ranking for “largest spatula” or “heavy duty tongs”

For any category research “extra strength”, “long-lasting”, “best”, “largest”, “well-made” and see if there’s interest. James has “largest griddle” in his?Nanoflips ?newsletter this week ??

Other differentiation ideas for food tools:

? Easy cleaning

? Fine woods

? Laser-etched patterns

? Including sharpening solutions

? Easy storage/stacking

? Lifetime guarantee

? Presentation/gifting options

? Handles for small/large people

?? FACTORIES ??

Sauces

Sabatino - higher end truffles, sauces and condiments:?https://www.sabatinotruffles.com/pages/foodmanufacturing2021

Karma sauces-?https://karmasauce.com/pages/private-label

The original Cambodia pepper and spicy condiment hitters:?https://kampotpepper.com/en/

Tools

Mass kitchen tools:?https://yinhaohouseware.en.alibaba.com/

? AESTHETICS ?

They said it was impossible to innovate further in this day and age... until now:

A palette for you to use as you see fit (I'm going to do this every week until I... don't):

The 80s were so overdone aesthetically and the 90s/grunge reaction so extreme. Society killed the direction of design during that era that was actually very very good. Let's bring it back!

?? BUILDERS BUILD ??

I see too many ecommerce entrepreneurs ignoring Amazon, so myself and the gang did a podcast on why and how to take it seriously with the awesome Lesley Hensell from Riverbend Consulting. She runs a 75 person Amazon agency, and still makes time for her original FBA store

Episode #15 of the Builders Build podcast covers:

What products are good to sell on Amazon

What are the tools you need to build a business on the platform

• Is Walmart coming for Amazon's lunch?
• How has the industry changed in the last decade, and more importantly… Where is it going?
• Pitfalls to avoid for Amazon sellers
• Is Amazon going to steal your product and sell it themselves?
• and much more!

https://builders.build/bb15-how-to-sell-products-on-amazon/

Stoked to see what you create.

– Oren

P.S.

Check out 2 newsletters from my best friends Colin & James

NanoFlips - Learn the art of buying, growing and selling websites:?https://www.nanoflips.com/

Free Smoke - A Cannabis Business newsletter by Colin Landforce:?https://freesmoke.xyz/