You’ve got a sauce. People love it. It crushes on wings, your mates ask for bottles, and someone once said, “You should sell this.”
So now you’re thinking: Maybe I should.
Here’s the truth?
You might have flavour, but that doesn’t mean you’re ready to launch.
And that’s absolutely fine.
Your Kitchen Sauce Isn’t the Same as a Retail Product
Making sauce in your kitchen is one thing.
Turning that into something that’s:
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Shelf-stable
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Legal
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Consistent
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Costed
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Scalable
…is a whole different recipe.
That doesn’t mean your idea is bad. It just means you’ve only done the fun bit.
What “Not Ready” Actually Looks Like
Here’s how I know your sauce isn’t quite there yet:
It’s not pH tested
If you don’t know your sauce’s pH, water activity, and preservative profile — it’s not ready for shelves.
You haven’t costed by gram
“About 50p a jar” isn’t good enough. You need cost per batch, per unit, per ingredient, and packaging — including waste and margin.
You’re hand-bottling at home
Food law alert: the second you sell, you need to follow production guidelines, allergen control, traceability, and more. Sauce Shed is SALSA-accredited — and trust me, we didn’t get that with a funnel and some wishful thinking.
You don’t have a spec
A manufacturer won’t work off your gut feel. You need a tech sheet, batch formula, and clearly defined instructions.
The Real Work Comes After the Flavour
That flavour might be next level — but it’s just the starting point.
What gets you on shelves or menus is:
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Product safety
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Batch repeatability
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Supply chain control
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Packaging choice
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Branding and story
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Understanding your audience
That’s where I come in.
I help people go from “everyone loves my sauce” to “this product is making money and moving volume.”
Real-World Example: The Jalapeño Jam
A founder came to me with a killer jalapeño jam. Great flavour. They were selling at markets and bottling it in their garage.
The problem?
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Inconsistence setting
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Labels had incorrect wording and weights
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Glass jars were the wrong spec for scale
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Cost per jar meant they’d lose money in retail
We rebuilt it:
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Adjusted the recipe
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Locked shelf life to 18+ months
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Switched to hot-fill, and invert filling
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Created a new brand with correct labelling
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Costed it for profit at retail and wholesale levels
Now? It’s in 80+ stores, flying online, and lined up for foodservice.
Final Word
If your sauce isn’t ready, don’t panic. That doesn’t mean you’ve failed — it means you’re just getting started.
And getting it right is the difference between having a nice product… and building a serious brand.
Need Help?
I help people turn homemade sauces into real-world, shelf-ready, scalable products.
Blunt advice. Smart process. Real results.
