Dos and Don'ts of Gourmet Food Sampling

Very few people will turn down a free meal, as the saying goes. And very few customers will turn down a free taste. At best, food sampling is a win-win situation, with the customer enjoying a new taste sensation in a suddenly warmer and more intimate environment while the retailer enjoys increased sales. At worst, there are health codes, ravenous customers, and sanitation issues to overcome.

We asked four retailers for tips to make your next — or first — sampling promotion a success. All four stores carry a mix of gourmet foods and gifts, and they each tailor their promotions to their individual needs. They are: three-time Gifts & Dec Merchandising Achievement Award winner Bettie Edwards of The Little House in Vashon, Washington; Lorna Goebel, general manager of Paul's Pantry in Carefree, Arizona; Sonja Fraze, manager of Harpies' Bazaar in Mankato, Minnesota; and Lee Lang, owner of A Basket Affair in Broomfield, Colorado.

• Familiarize yourself with your state's health codes. Do you need a food handler's permit? Do hot foods need to stay at a certain temperature? "There'd be nothing worse than having a health inspector walk in and shut you down," Edwards says.
• Decide what to sample based on which products you have the most of, as Fraze recommends.
• Consider making handouts if the demonstration entails cooking and extra ingredients. Coordinate the color of the handouts with the product; for example, crème de menthe almonds could be paired with soft green flyers.
• If the food is more straightforward, verbally convey its selling points. These might include preparation methods, other foods to serve it with, and gift ideas.
• Make a vignette by using coordinating product. A barbecue sauce might command a display of aprons, cooking tools, citronella candles, potholders, and tablecloth weights. You may want to create a few gift baskets—for example, a few varieties of salsa in hostess baskets with some chips. Make sure everything is priced, so that staffers aren't interrupted with questions about price.
• Play music that complements the theme. For example, country tunes would work well with barbecue sauces.
• When shopping for new lines, ask companies about receiving free samples. Many vendors recognize that promotions boost their sales and will respond accordingly. Some will even send a rep to help out, or give you recipe cards and merchandising tips.
• Consider holding promotions for products with names that might put people off (e.g., "mustard praline glaze") or for products with higher price points. "Most people won't pay $6.99 for a barbecue sauce without trying it," comments Goebel. "And when they do, they're hooked. We have a local lady who makes a dessert glaze and does demos for us and has a huge following. The $11 for her sauce is pretty expensive, but people come in looking for it constantly. It becomes something you can't live without."
• Take Lang's advice and stir up a few mixes. "If I make and sample mixes that otherwise wouldn't sell very well, they sell like crazy," she says.
• Consider holding all of your food promotions on the same day—such as the first Saturday of each month—in order to build momentum and aid word-of-mouth publicity.
• Plan promotions around local happenings. When there's a Mexican-themed "Boulderfest" going on, Goebel pulls out Mexican placemats and goes from there.
• Try using bread with salad dressings instead of carrot and celery sticks, since the latter don't absorb the liquid.
• In order to avoid messes, make sure that the food you're considering promoting can be eaten easily while standing up.
• Know every detail about the product you are selling, from ingredients used to number of calories per serving.
• Make sure each staff member is familiar with the new foods you get in. Goebel explains, "They can't sell anything they don't know."
• Use your own experience when prodding a customer to try a new food. "I think the more you personalize it, the better it sells," says Lang.
• Do as Fraze recommends and assign one staffer to man the demo table at all times.
• Drive home the importance of cleanliness with staffers. "In our store, image is everything," notes Goebel. "So I explain to staffers: 'If you see a used napkin, if you see a spill, constantly go out of your way to walk by that demo area and keep it clean.'"

• Fail to distinguish between foods that require active sampling and foods that can be passively sampled. "Some products are very self-explanatory, like mustards, jams, and jellies," Goebel says. "And we always make signs to promote them."
• Use implements that you don't sell, such as decorative knives or forks. "If you don't carry them, you'll end up sending the customer down the street," cautions Edwards.
• Forget to keep the weather in mind. "If it's a nice cool January day, I'll do a big pot of soup," comments Goebel. "On a hot day, I'll whip up some iced tea and serve it."
• Ignore the fact that smells linger (especially if you carry clothing). If possible, cook food in an outdoor space or at home. "The smell of onion and garlic attracts people, but lingers. Two days later, you may not want to be smelling it," Edwards points out.
• Overlook foods that don't have standout packaging. Lang features products with packages that leave customers initially unimpressed. "Then they'll try it and it will surprise the heck out of them," she notes.
• Forget to set out a receptacle for garbage. "It has to be attractive, and you have to keep dumping it," reminds Edwards. "There's nothing worse than an overflowing wastebasket."
• Think of yourself as having to feed the hordes; rather, you're teasing them.
• Neglect to have someone walk the floor in order to ensure that garbage items are not being put down among other merchandise. "People don't care where they set them down," Edwards points out. "It also gives your staff another chance to ask the customer if they enjoyed it."
• Be too encouraging to customers if you sample on request. Lang explains: "[Some people] have no genuine interest in anything, and once they know I've got a stash of samples, they'll go around requesting to try everything. So I've learned to offer just if someone is truly interested in something."
• Overwhelm yourself with details. Keep it simple. According to Edwards, the less stuff you use in your promotion—forks, even plates—the cheaper it will be.
• Neglect to have enough food on hand. Extras can always go to staffers.
• Limit yourself in terms of what you can sample. The more off-the-wall your idea is, the more attention it will get. Edwards remembers barbecuing a watermelon injected with rum. "It's a verbal and mental stimulus. You're selling the sizzle, then you're selling the product," she concludes.