Applesauce for the World

Applesauce Hits The Road

The benefits of applesauce, especially when combined with exercise and supplements from companies like Purity Products, are tremendous and can easily fit into your fitness diet for it's nutrition, fiber and cleansing properties.

But, for today, I thought I'd do a follow up to my applesauce article. Applesauce recipes are on the horizon, but, for now I figured that since I got the ball rolling with a"tasting of what it was like to work for myself and, more specifically in the food industry, that today I'd elaborate a bit on some of the different aspects of the biz that I enjoyed.

These are going to be parts of the applesauce gourmet food gift business that fit well with my personality on different levels. Things like working the food tastings, recipe creation, baking and cooking, working with the creative folks that developed our logo, etc.

Just for kicks and, because it's one of the parts I enjoyed the most and therefore the area in which I have some of the greatest memories, I want to talk about what we called the applesauce "food tastings".

Apple Butter(ing up)

Basically, after we created working recipes, had our logo developed and our labels/packaging/safety collars designed then I would begin by visiting with other businesses that I thought would be compatible with ours, such as gourmet food stores or gourmet food gift basket businesses, and approaching the owners with the idea of them carrying our product line in their establishment.

Now, this may seem like an easy thing to do, but, remember that 1) they've never heard of me or my applesauce business, and 2) they risk their reputation if a product they bring in turns out to be a bad reflection on them. This is where packaging and recipes meet. I mean, what if I had some stupid, lame recipe flavor combination such as sardine and marshmallow applesauce? Or turnip and liver? Sure, they might work in a niche market (a VERY niche market), but, when you get down and dirty they just aren't that appealing.

So, generally, here's how I would approach them. I would first bring in some samples for them to taste. This is good. This gives them something tangible with which to work. To begin with, they can feel and look at the jars.

Are they something unique and attractive or another type of"mason" jar with another homemade"Jacks Happy Applesauce"label shot off of an inkjet printer with a logo you came up with on napkin at Pizza Hut? Does the product look like you invested some time and thought in the design and handling? Is the logo fresh and different, eye catching and draw the attention of the customer by standing out from the other salsas, jams, jellies and applesauces lined up on the shelves?

There's only so much room for another "Aunt Alice's Homemade Whatever" or"Grandma Betty's Favorite You Name It". Go into any local orchard or gift basket store and look around at how similar many of the products are on the shelves.

The whole "we made our applesauce at home next to grandpa's still" look is really getting worn and tired and business owners need and gladly welcome items that are "fresh", "unique" and "new"and not just in the products name.

Remember, in our case, we targeted gourmet food gift basket and gourmet food specialty store and so there was a real need to justify cost and their ultimate markup. We were also up against a school of thought that was something along the lines of "Applesauce? Big deal! My grandmother (or mother or uncle or fill-in-the-blank) makes GREAT applesauce. Why should I pay $xx for something I get for free or cheap?"

That happened a lot. That's one of the reasons you don't see a plain applesauce in our lineup. Who wants to compare with nana? Or uncle Charlie? So we new we needed a different angle and devised flavor combinations.

Once we convinced the owner we had something new/unique we let them taste the product itself to judge as to whether they liked the quality, texture and flavor. IF we got this far we then brought up the idea of doing a tasting for their customers. This accomplished a couple of things.

First, it helped draw customers in the door. There's nothing like the smell of fresh cooked applesauce to get people curious. Second, it gave customers the chance to sample something new and maybe even novel (come on now, Pineapple/Banana?). Third, customers got the chance to talk and interact with the products creator/owner. This worked marvels and took some of the mystique out of the new addition to the stores line.

My next article will continue with examples of how the food tastings worked out. Complete with tales of some GREAT customer interactions at the gourmet food gift stores.

Applesauce Recipe Tip:

While making applesauce is hard to screw up, if you really want to make a great impression try using apple cider as the liquid for cooking down the apples instead of water. It's already concentrated and FULL of flavor.

Have an applesauce day!

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