Constructive criticism:
The concept is good - "marriage of pineapple and scotch bonnet." That's about where the positive ends.
execution - it's really busy and at the same time muted. The sauce name doesn't pop at all, and the Ken's branding does which doesn't fit at all. That sharp square "Ken's" logo is stark white/red against the rest of the otherwise muted label and I find it incredibly distracting. Like it just got slapped on as an afterthought. It also totally draws my eye up to the top of the label and away from the main label image of this sauce.
This has been a common observation so I will go back and resize on all the labels. Good point.
Thematically it doesn't work at all for me - the name needs to tie into the theme. It doesn't. It ties into the island but until I read the romance panel I had no idea why you put a pineapple in a wedding dress or what the hell was going on here. Again - love the concept - marriage of pineapple and scotch bonnet is good. But concepts must extend to the product name too and here it doesn't tie in. You're expecting a consumer to see this on a shelf and make the connection between island sunshine and two pieces of produce getting married. I missed it 100% until I read that romance panel. The old saying about how if you have to explain it, it doesn't work applies here. As a consumer I'm not going to pick up your bottle and read the romance panel to figure out what's going on. I'm just going to grab a more appealing bottle that I do understand.
Have you been to the grocery store to look at hot sauce labels? In St. Louis, there basically are none. The ones that are on the shelf are pretty boring. The TryMe brand is about the only decent label.
Other issues:
Is the vinegar white distilled? If so I do not think you can call it gluten free as it might contain gluten. Check with your state PA. I also think you need to list the type of vinegar (for allergen reasons) in your ingredients panel - we do in CA.
Good point. I have a call in to the PA for an answer. Heinz, and most US manufacturers, use corn to make their white vinegar. From what I found online, white vinegar made w/ grains is still below the 20 ppm requirement to be considered gluten-free. I'll definitely ask my co-packer about the source.
Your list of things to use it on doesn't tell me that's what it is. It's right below the romance panel, where for some reason you described almost all of the ingredients so it almost looks like more ingredients. I understand what you meant there but always assume the general public needs things spelled out for them. Strongly recommend adding "suggested use" or "use on" or "great with" or "try on" or some other qualifier. It looks weird to just have a random list of meats/Foods there.
The "USE ON" was accidentally left off and needs to be there.
There's also an extraneous "and" on the romance panel. ", and a touch of warm brown sugar
and honey".
I'm still not a fan of "warm" as a descriptor for brown sugar. Again it calls attention to an ingredient people actively try to avoid these days, and you're using temperature to describe flavor - which might work for peppers (hot habaneros) but not for sugar. Sugar is sweet. It's an uphill battle describing any ingredient as other than the 1st thing people think of. Do a little word association - ask 20 people the 1st word that comes to mind when you say "brown sugar". If a single person said "warm" I'd be shocked.
This is true. But it's about how it makes you feel, not a word association. For me, brown sugar is like comfort food...apple crisp, homemade caramel sauce, butter and brown sugar on carrots or butternut squash, bread pudding sauce, sweet potato casserole, coffee cake, etc. With that said, I may cut back on the adjectives a bit.
When I read that romance panel I am confused and I have read a LOT of romance panels. You spend a lot of real estate giving flowery descriptors for ingredients that are already listed in the ingredients statement. In my opinion you're losing your audience there. At most I'd suggest staying with the theme - call out the pineapple and scotch bonnet and stop. People will find out about the "rest of the wedding party" in terms of detail. You actually started to enhance the theme there but lost it. The romance panel is not the place to duplicate an ingredients list. That panel is a place to connect with your customer. Suggest pairings, tell people why your sauce is different from every other sauce on the planet and/or something about your company. I think that entire panel needs a re-write. "The rest of the wedding party brings together a celebration of this island paradise matrimony with a perfect pairing of sweet and savory notes to enhance your food and blah blah blah" - even after reading your romance panel twice I have no idea what this sauce should taste like or why it would be good on chicken, pork, fish, etc. and I know nothing about your brand or mission statement.
The name is also a little cliche at this point. Google "sunshine hot sauce" - I can think of at least 3 brands that use sunshine off the top of my head without googling. It's lacking originality.
I'm okay w/ that .
It's a happy sunny name that doesn't remind anyone of death, pain or bowel movements. I like the TryMe sauces and that's obviously where I got the idea. It seems to work for them. I don't like most hot sauce names and don't really care for calling it pineapple habanero sauce - that's unoriginal.
As for the graphic itself, I dunno man - the peppers are cute but I'm not much for cute. Not a big fan of the art. It looks a bit hasty and also kinda forced. I can't completely put my finger on some of it - like seeing a round peg being forced into a square hole. This label really doesn't work for me for these reasons and more - honest knee jerk reactions. All intended as constructive.
I'm just one guy though and not a marketing guru. I think the theme/concept could work, but it's gonna take a lot of re-work.
Good luck.