labels Relaxin' Jack Labels Sneak Peek
- Thread starter Husker21
- Start date
I disagree entirely with THP & agree 100% with SL.
I do 4 markets a week + product demos - I can say with confidence that very few people on this planet have a better idea of the pulse of the general population when it comes to heat level.
And the fact is that to the vast majority of my customers my mild sauces are "hot". At least 80% or more. Chileheads remain in the minority. And I'm in CA where we have huge Thai, Vietnamese, Mexican and Asian populations and everyone loves spicy stuff.
More people are adventurous eaters - so they're willing to try the sauces moreso now than ever before. But that does not speak to tolerance.
Now, THP has a good point when it comes to your initial audience, but that's best remedied by explaining to reviewers about to receive your wares that you rated your heat scale to the general public.
More and more I see reviewers say when describing heat levels, "to a non-chilehead, this would be a [x.x/10] but..." So I think even that's not an issue.
Give it some thought - maybe take the pulse of your friends and family. I rated my product for how I thought my mom would handle them. Mom loves spicy food - mom can't take blistering hot.
To a diehard raw pod eating youtuber, everything is a mild sauce, so if you cater to the 3% you're going to scare off a lot of potential sales on curb appeal alone.
My $.02
I do 4 markets a week + product demos - I can say with confidence that very few people on this planet have a better idea of the pulse of the general population when it comes to heat level.
And the fact is that to the vast majority of my customers my mild sauces are "hot". At least 80% or more. Chileheads remain in the minority. And I'm in CA where we have huge Thai, Vietnamese, Mexican and Asian populations and everyone loves spicy stuff.
More people are adventurous eaters - so they're willing to try the sauces moreso now than ever before. But that does not speak to tolerance.
Now, THP has a good point when it comes to your initial audience, but that's best remedied by explaining to reviewers about to receive your wares that you rated your heat scale to the general public.
More and more I see reviewers say when describing heat levels, "to a non-chilehead, this would be a [x.x/10] but..." So I think even that's not an issue.
Give it some thought - maybe take the pulse of your friends and family. I rated my product for how I thought my mom would handle them. Mom loves spicy food - mom can't take blistering hot.
To a diehard raw pod eating youtuber, everything is a mild sauce, so if you cater to the 3% you're going to scare off a lot of potential sales on curb appeal alone.
My $.02
You disagree with a realistic scale, and agree with an unrealistic scale dumbing it down for your neighbor that never eats hot sauce?
To clarify... I said chilihead, not extreme chilihead. Those guys are a special bunch. A chilihead is a regular consumer of hot sauce that enjoys heat and flavor, and the craft of a fine sauce. Like any connoisseur. "Gen Pop" includes people that have never even had one hot sauce.
That's what I meant. If you still disagree, that's cool. As a chilihead, I want a realistic scale. Heat is subjective but at least get it in the ballpark.
To clarify... I said chilihead, not extreme chilihead. Those guys are a special bunch. A chilihead is a regular consumer of hot sauce that enjoys heat and flavor, and the craft of a fine sauce. Like any connoisseur. "Gen Pop" includes people that have never even had one hot sauce.
That's what I meant. If you still disagree, that's cool. As a chilihead, I want a realistic scale. Heat is subjective but at least get it in the ballpark.
The Hot Pepper said:
no, that's fair enough - we're in agreement.
(that said, a lot of people find Frank's hot - those poor simple bastards)
salsalady
Business Member
Heat is subjective and a sauce maker needs to really know the market. If the Market is Dumb then that's how the sauce should be scaled.
After (way too many years in 2 different markets selling salsa.....) the ratios are still the same
25% of the fresh salsa I sell is mild. Meaning ABSOLUTELY TOTALLY MILD. Not one single hot pepper in it. Fresh Veggies, spices, that's it.
+50% of the fresh salsa I sell is Medium. Has a little jalapeno. It's at the heat scale of 3-4 for general and 1.5 for chileheads.
25% of sales is HOT salsa, which has the jalapenos in it and a bit of habanYERO. (jus yanking the chain,
). It's about a 5 for chileheads and 8 for GP.
The last little bit is the Scorcher. That's maybe 5 units out of 120. Scorcher is about 9 for GP and 6-7 for chileheads.
Those ratios have been consistent for almost 20 years. Most who hang around here on THP and on other chile forums are in the Hot and Scorcher range, which is the minority of the market.
For the general public that I interacted with, most considered Tabasco as "pretty spicy". So I based my heat scale ratings on how hot the salsa is compared to Tabasco.
"Chileheads" as Boss talks about are only 25% of my salsa market. Dumbed-down neighbors are 75% of my market. Who should I cater to with fresh salsa?
Why is Tapatio's and Valentinos so popular? They are mild sauces with a bit of a bite, makes customers feel like they're chileheads...... (75% of my sales are Mild and Medilum......)
EDIT- does this mean this thread has been hijacked?
Sorry, Husker, we should prolly get back on track~~~
After (way too many years in 2 different markets selling salsa.....) the ratios are still the same
25% of the fresh salsa I sell is mild. Meaning ABSOLUTELY TOTALLY MILD. Not one single hot pepper in it. Fresh Veggies, spices, that's it.
+50% of the fresh salsa I sell is Medium. Has a little jalapeno. It's at the heat scale of 3-4 for general and 1.5 for chileheads.
25% of sales is HOT salsa, which has the jalapenos in it and a bit of habanYERO. (jus yanking the chain,
). It's about a 5 for chileheads and 8 for GP.The last little bit is the Scorcher. That's maybe 5 units out of 120. Scorcher is about 9 for GP and 6-7 for chileheads.
Those ratios have been consistent for almost 20 years. Most who hang around here on THP and on other chile forums are in the Hot and Scorcher range, which is the minority of the market.
For the general public that I interacted with, most considered Tabasco as "pretty spicy". So I based my heat scale ratings on how hot the salsa is compared to Tabasco.
"Chileheads" as Boss talks about are only 25% of my salsa market. Dumbed-down neighbors are 75% of my market. Who should I cater to with fresh salsa?
Why is Tapatio's and Valentinos so popular? They are mild sauces with a bit of a bite, makes customers feel like they're chileheads...... (75% of my sales are Mild and Medilum......)
EDIT- does this mean this thread has been hijacked?
Sorry, Husker, we should prolly get back on track~~~
All of these points are valid.
Just wanted to point out by chilihead I mean all of us here ,and people that buy sauce regularly. I don't eat fresh pods on camera or boast about what I can tolerate. Heat and flavor regularly. Trying new stuff. Passionate about it. Etc. Chilihead. But SL, if those people are not even buying your stuff, then you gotta do what you gotta do to please the neighbors, lol.
For the record LDHS' stuff is pretty much in the ballpark. The medium is medium and the hot is hot. Nobody is looking at the bottle and expecting extreme. But there are a LOT of misleading bottles out there.
Hijacked? No this is a good discussion. Hopefully it will help.
Just wanted to point out by chilihead I mean all of us here ,and people that buy sauce regularly. I don't eat fresh pods on camera or boast about what I can tolerate. Heat and flavor regularly. Trying new stuff. Passionate about it. Etc. Chilihead. But SL, if those people are not even buying your stuff, then you gotta do what you gotta do to please the neighbors, lol.
For the record LDHS' stuff is pretty much in the ballpark. The medium is medium and the hot is hot. Nobody is looking at the bottle and expecting extreme. But there are a LOT of misleading bottles out there.
Hijacked? No this is a good discussion. Hopefully it will help.
I think with the clarified definition, SL, THP and I are all preaching to the choir - Ann & I heard "chilehead" and thought "extreme eaters" - not necessarily the 3%, but that top 20-25% SL is talking about. My ratio is about the same as Ann's.
I think what I was suggesting for Ramblin' Jack's (and Ann as well) was to target that Medium range. Average consumers who are adventurous eaters may prefer a mild, but can stretch to a medium. Medium also appeals to those who can take it hotter but don't mind if it's not a scorcher.
So the heat scale (and we're back!) is best served targeting the median range fiery foods consumer.
No one's saying to mislead anyone - but even my own sauces, to me, aren't as hot as the heat indicator. I basically adopted mine from La Victoria taco sauce in terms of "what does medium mean". And it's all over the place with customers anyway. But because I have old and young and everything in between trying it out at the markets, I'd rather overstate the heat slightly (~1 point) than understate it and have people pissed that I burned them up with a misleading rating. Seems safer to err on the side of hot when describing it because to the general public, cheerios are spicy.
I think what I was suggesting for Ramblin' Jack's (and Ann as well) was to target that Medium range. Average consumers who are adventurous eaters may prefer a mild, but can stretch to a medium. Medium also appeals to those who can take it hotter but don't mind if it's not a scorcher.
So the heat scale (and we're back!) is best served targeting the median range fiery foods consumer.
No one's saying to mislead anyone - but even my own sauces, to me, aren't as hot as the heat indicator. I basically adopted mine from La Victoria taco sauce in terms of "what does medium mean". And it's all over the place with customers anyway. But because I have old and young and everything in between trying it out at the markets, I'd rather overstate the heat slightly (~1 point) than understate it and have people pissed that I burned them up with a misleading rating. Seems safer to err on the side of hot when describing it because to the general public, cheerios are spicy.
salsalady
Business Member
What most of us here on THP would consider a "chilehead" is in the minority of the purchasing buyer, that 25%. 75% of what I sell of fresh salsa is 0-4/10 heat. I can't base a heat scale on the 25% of hotheads. When at a FM, it's face to face so the vendor can determine if the so-called Chilehead really is a chilehead or just a poser. And if they ARE a true chileheads, then it's time to have them try the Scorcher Salsa...The Hot Pepper said:
Not sure what that was referencing as the salsa has consistent sales year in and year out...year after batch after batch after another batch........to the point I look for excuses not to make it "right now"...... (aka burn-out)The Hot Pepper said:But SL, if those people are not even buying your stuff, then you gotta do what you gotta do to please the neighbors, lol.
Hijacked? No this is a good discussion. Hopefully it will help.
I don't have a heat scale on any labels at this time for a reason. A description is on the label for those purchasing bottled sauces, and 99% of those buying the fresh local salsa are repeat customers and they know what heat level they want.
Haha no I wasn't saying you don't sell salsa, you said you didn't sell much to chiliheads, so why cater to them with an accurate heat scale. I agreed in saying yeah okay since they are not the ones buying it.salsalady said:
Let's get this back on track. Since you say you do not have a heat scale on any product... why do you suggest it for Husker?
(Ohhhhh back on track niceeeee)
salsalady
Business Member
Salsa is sold local and has heat stickers on them (mild, medium, hot, scorcher).
All of my current labels for the bottled sauces have some kind of description to let people know where the heat level is but not a graphic heat indicator. Most labels were designed and printed 3-4 years ago. After all these discussions and label critiques here on THP, it seems pretty important to consumers to have some kind of thermometer on the labels. I'm encouraging Husker to do something that has been very important in other label discussion and something I'll be changing in the future for our labels.
All of my current labels for the bottled sauces have some kind of description to let people know where the heat level is but not a graphic heat indicator. Most labels were designed and printed 3-4 years ago. After all these discussions and label critiques here on THP, it seems pretty important to consumers to have some kind of thermometer on the labels. I'm encouraging Husker to do something that has been very important in other label discussion and something I'll be changing in the future for our labels.
the corrector self-corrects!
:gasp!:
I should be asleep - festival tomorrow. Glad I got a good laugh before Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
:gasp!:
I should be asleep - festival tomorrow. Glad I got a good laugh before Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz