Shelf space

So there’s this guy that I see in the Mukwonago Pick N Save handing out samples of his tomato sauce. He’s very enthusiastic about this sauce. So much so that he goes to great lengths to explain that the recipe comes from his ex-wife who was Italian. I’m not sure I think that’s a great story, and it didn’t really make me want to buy it. But the sauce itself was good and I bought a jar although it’s like twice the cost of other tomato sauce. I mean I kind of had to after listening to the pathetic 20 minute story about his ex wife.

There are quite a few problems here. One is that just selling this one kind of bottled sauce is never going to make him enough money to live on. He’s going to kill himself going from supermarket to supermarket giving out samples. (His second wife and their children seem to be helping). The sauce itself to me seemed like a cooking sauce more than either pasta or pizza sauce. But well, I have many opinions. I would probably not use the same sauce for both pasta and pizza. I mean, I’m not gonna die if I did.

His biggest problem is the label. It doesn’t even say what the hell it is. It just says The Sauce King. And it’s Gluten Free! Things rarely sell based on what they are not. The competition for space on grocery shelves is fierce. He will not win. Plus there’s the national advertising aspect that he seems to be missing.

I sent him a nice note complimenting his sauce and added a small bit of free advice. He never responded. I don’t blame him. I’m sure he’s very busy. In the meantime I have a jar of sauce.