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When fixing on your business’s unique selling point, it’s easy to prioritise unique over selling. The current trend for chilli sauces provides a cautionary tale.

“One of the most common product ideas bought to our kitchens is chilli sauce,” says food consultant Olga Astaniotis of The Olive Grows. The prospective entrepreneur invariably claims their product is “not just any chilli sauce, but made with chillies from a specific region, using a specific mix of chillies and a secret ingredient from their ancestors, with a unique flavour like no other on the market.

“Whilst this is valid differentiation from competition, the question must be asked and answered honestly: does the consumer care enough about these differentiating factors? Deciding that they are a USP and their truly being a USP are two very different things.”

Shelves in delis, farmers’ markets and supermarkets are groaning with colourful displays of chilli sauce. You must remember customer behaviour, and what actually drives purchases of different products. For chilli sauces, says Olga, it’s actually “pricing and branding” not “unique flavour or piquancy”.

“Those that succeed in food businesses understand customers’ needs and how they want those needs fulfilled.”

 Olga Astaniotis, The Olive Grows | www.theolivegrows.org