The "WOW" factor takes hold

Well....we are back from 3 days of selling, selling selling at the DC Fancy Food Show. It was a roaring success!  We "WOWED" a large number of interested companies that might be able to help our simmer sauces grow and expand in the retail marketplace.  We met retailers, distributors, brokers, packaging, co-packers, food sources, internet gurus, media outlets and a slew of other companies and people who love our samples of the best simmer sauces on earth. We were even interviewed by CBS radio so we could tell our story!

What impressed us most, is that the majority of those we met "got it" in terms of seeing how unique our simmer sauces are. They understood that the glutted sauce market did NOT apply to our unique niche.

Was the show a success?  We won't honestly know for a few months. You see, it takes awhile for these contacts to come back to us.  Nobody was buying at the show except one new retail customer who made a pretty large order!

As for the rest of our trip-- Michael A. had a room with a busted TV, so they moved him into a frigging huge suite with living room, sauna, balcony with a panoramic view of the whole city!  Im not angry about this....nawww.....   but I won't forget about this either.  He owes me one, since Im the guy who was able to get our rooms at half the going rate. (don't cha think he should've given me that room as a token of his gratitude for having saved the company hundreds of dollars?----no? I didnt think so....)

It was also blazing hot. 107 degrees on Tuesday.  People were cursing the heat as they struggled to pack up their stuff and move it out of the convention center.  The center had the worst system (none) for helping small exhibitors like us to move in and out.  We had to use regular elevators to move our stuff!
The line waiting for these two---yes two..... elevators were long and the wait was over a half hour.
THEN....we had to take another elevator, which was shut down.  A real mess!  Oh...and the people parked outside the DC convention center waiting to get packed up were all given parking tickets!

Nice, huh?

Oh well....the show is over and now it's just about to begin for us!  Stay tuned.

What a week!

Won't go into details, but we had a verrry promising week!  We met with some heavy hitters in the food biz who were willing....even eager to possibly do business with us.  John, our consultant, said that these meetings were some of the best he had ever sat in on. (and he's been in the business for something like 30 friggin years).

I think we're right there....right on the cusp of something big.  I feel it.  I just hope whatever it is, it makes us money.  We aren't even close to paying off our investment capital and it will be awhile before we start paying ourselves something.  But hey! You gotta pay if you wanna play.....!!

We're off to the Fancy Food Show in DC today.  Michael has been running around like a lunatic, and so have I --however in a far more relaxed and "everything is cool" kinda way.  "We're making a list and checking it twice.....gonna find out who's......"

We'll load up Michael's SUV and barrel down I-95, set up in the convention center this afternoon.  It's going to be a friggin zoo!  A bazillion exhibitors fighting for parking spots at the center to unload their foodie stuff. Sweating... cursing.... short nerves... sounds just lovely, doesn't it? Show starts tomorrow. It will be interesting. Three days of who knows what.  It will be exhausting. It will be a true learning experience....and it will be expensive.

Gee......wonder what we're forgetting?

Whole Foods....where art thou?

Lizbeth Lane Cuisine makes the finest simmer sauces in the solar system....right? Right. That's why it's so frustrating that it's taking a long time to be approved by Whole Foods.  We have waited 9 weeks so far.... three Phila. WF stores want our sauces in their stores. More will be lining up soon..... our vendor form was submitted by a local WF manager, which corporate needs to approve.

I mean, Whole Foods is a fantastic store and we are fantastic simmer sauces--a perfect marriage-- we're unique (and loved--like Whole Foods!)  Our sauces are quickly becoming staples in customer households!  We're not some weird, exotic glaze or marinade that might get purchased once a year.  Our fans purchase our sauces 2-3 times per month!  We're certainly NOT another pasta sauce (Oy! The world doesnt need another super duper pasta sauce--or another BBQ sauce...or salsa!)

So, we'll be patient and hope we get approval soon. Like within a week or two.  Remember, the food biz moves sssssslowwwwwlllllyyyyyyyy.....

Yikes!

First, Michael and I are getting excited about the upcoming NASFT Food Show in DC.  We have a ton of stuff to drag down there:  food, cooking equipment, displays, simmer sauces (duh) and our cool new shirts with our logo on them.  It's either going to be great or it's gonna be a bummer.  I think we'll be verrry successful! I know one thing for sure.....we're going to be exhausted when it's over.