837km, 320 Shops & a Whole Lot of Sauce
What do you get when you combine 320 independent retailers, 837km of cycling and a founder carrying buckets of pasta sauce? Tour de Sauce. We caught up with the Saucerer, Tim Hillgarth, to find out why he swapped traditional sales and marketing tactics for a two-wheeled mission around London’s independents, and what happened when he showed up at the shop door.
Tour de Sauce! What is it? What happened?
It’s like the Tour de France but it’s within the M25 and there’s no yellow jersey, just two young guys and buckets full of sauce on our backs. It’s basically an express sales drive to drum up as much love as possible within the independents. We identify the most aligned 320 outlets in London across all channels and segments: retail, foodservice, coffee shop, deli, butcher etc.. and say hi, take snaps, give them a sample if they haven’t yet tried Saucerer.
Why did you do it?
We did it because with everything else going on inside a small biz (supply chain, financial projections, NPD, content management etc), you can easily lose focus on the most important stakeholder - the shopkeeper selling your sauce on the day-to-day. Tour de Sauce is about checking in and reconnecting with the store owners and creating that advocacy that the people in the spirits trade look for when they talk about ‘bartender advocacy’. Diageo have teams of people who do that. If they know about you they’re more likely to recommend you to their customers.
Why is it important to actually go in to stores?
There are so many reasons!
Business intel. You see whether you’re in there. A wholesaler might not give you the data of where you’re stocked, this way you can ask about repeat order rate and understand your performance.
Relationship building with the store owner - drives ROS.
Relationship building with the wholesaler - if you’re putting in the work on the ground the wholesaler is more likely to suggest you to other stores.
Positioning. As a challenger brand selling in an independent it’s all about your visibility and positioning in store. By going in, you’re more likely to get better positioning on-shelf.
What were the results?
320 stores
837.2km
29 new stores ordered
150 existing stores visited and happy.
What was it like walking into the shops, were you scared?
Terrified… but after coffee and a shot of Moju in the morning you can do anything you put your mind to.
Brand collabs was a great idea! Who came with you?
12 guest riders - Sandy Eyre (Overherd), Tom Palmer (Yep Kitchen), Susanna Jolly (Makan Malaysia), Charlie Pugh Cordero (Foreva Farmers), Aarun Ilyas (Aisle One), Kumayl Sarwar (Third Culture Kat), Leah Smith (Sunny & Luna), Beau Langmead, Jack Scott (DASH), Bailey Mansfield (Overherd) and Ziyaad Massoud (Fil). They were all absolutely fantastic company - especially Zee who was soaked through to the bone before we’d even gone to the first store.
How did you work with your distributors?
We gave them the list of all stores we were popping into and asked them to be the additional support so that when stockists wanted to buy from them, we let them know and they facilitated the process. It was great to work with them like this as they felt involved and engaged.
How much did it cost you vs other marketing/sales initiatives?
So this cost about £40 to replace my stolen back wheel on day 2, but apart from that it was just food and water to keep us going. It’s cheaper and has more impact than a 20% promo discount. I’d recommend it to anyone, or next year they could just join the Tour - we plan on getting sponsors and athletes to join. Carb-loaded up to their ears on pasta coated in our sauce. Get in touch with Tim if you want to take part!
What’s so great about the indies?
The indies are really the backbone of the artisan food game in any country, but I feel like the ones in this country are particularly special. For example, The Deli Downstairs in Hackney feels like you’re in someone’s kitchen, and when you discover a brand in there you’re always more connected to it than when you discover it in a supermarket aisle.
What’s next for Saucerer?
We’re seeing a lot of traction in foodservice now. Especially pizzerias who want to lather our sauce all over their pizzas, it’s a nice clean alternative to the sauces currently out there and gives them a point of difference. We’ll plough along with the indies but foodservice is really something we want to have fun with along the way.
Thanks to Tim for giving us the lowdown on this brilliant sales story!
Want to get in front of independent retailers but don't fancy the 800km cycle? Join us at Bread & Jam Festival in March and head to the Indie Walkway, where you can meet their key decision makers - no applications (or lycra) required.
