Genevieve Muir grew up with Ghanaian shito sauce – a peppery, flavour-packed condiment that’s a staple of the west African country’s cuisine. Not so much in Australia, which Genevieve has called home for nearly two decades. For years, she waited to find a bottle on the shelves of her local grocery stores.
“I kept waiting for someone to make it,” she said. “I thought ‘Someone’s going to make it in the 10th year’, it didn’t happen. Then the 15th year went by, and lockdown, and I just went ‘Well, how about I have a go?’”
Bringing a Ghanaian sauce to a country with a very different palette and lack of familiarity with any African cuisine, let alone Ghanaian, seemed like a big operation at first.
“When was the last time you went shopping, walked along the aisles and saw products from Africa?” Genevieve points out. “And then, not only did I want to [sell an African product], I also wanted to call it by its native name!”
Genevieve understands that she’s selling a product most Australians aren’t familiar with. This is why a cornerstone of her business strategy – from brand awareness to getting ranged – is allowing people to try her product for themselves.
“I figured, look, the product itself is so incredibly delicious that it will sell itself,” Genevieve says. “But for those who don’t know, we will make you look.”
Let people try it
During lockdown, Genevieve took her homemade sauce to local businesses and invited owners to try it. This was a big success, and she was soon selling her shito sauce through the local fishmonger, butcher and pub.
The sauce was also a hit at local Sydney markets, where Genevieve introduced it directly to customers. Soon, she felt ready to approach larger retailers, like IGA.
Genevieve’s approach to convincing stockists? Lead with flavour.
“Everyone eats, right?” she says. “‘I’m the person who shows up to the winery with a jar of sauce, saying, ‘Hello, Mr. Winemaker, you must need a break. How about some cheese, crackers, and a nice vino while we chat?’”
Spreading the word
Many of Genevieve’s promotional activities also give people the chance to try her wares. Frequenting markets, like Carriageworks in Sydney, is still an important part of her business; particularly when launching new flavours. She also does public cooking demonstrations, allowing customers to see her products in action and understand how to use them.
Another of Genevieve’s core strategies is partnering with supermarkets and suppliers to distribute miniatures and free samples of her food. Her partnership with Sydney-based grocer Panetta Mercato was especially successful. By including mini jars of shito sauce in food hampers, the entrepreneur gave potential customers a chance to experience the sauce firsthand.
Another promotion involved partnering with a food sampling network. This initiative involved sending postcards to eligible food sampler’s postboxes, which advertised Coast of Gold’s story and invited them to claim a free sample at their local supermarket.
Shito as a staple item
Genevieve says hasn’t seen an impact of the cost-of-living crisis on her business. She believes her product’s versatility has kept people buying. Essentially, shito is a staple food in the same way that soy sauce, HP sauce, or sriracha might be. When budgets stretch, people don’t necessarily remove these staple condiments from their shopping list.
Genevieve shares a favourite budget recipe that highlights the sauce’s affordability: “Two cups of rice, three cups of water and two tablespoons of shito. Broccolini, because I’m posh like that. Tell me that is a meal that’s going to break the bank.”
This article first appeared in issue 47 of the Inside Small Business quarterly magazine
