Naming it, and the words that carry a meaning

A name is a claim

The statement of identity has to describe the product accurately. That is less restrictive than makers fear, and it does rule out the thing most of them want to do, which is to name a product after the thing it resembles rather than the thing it is.

Where this bites in sauces

Category names carry process expectations. A buyer reaching for something called a ketchup, a mole or a teriyaki has an idea of what is in it, and a product that departs from that is making a claim it will be judged against. Regional and traditional names carry the strongest expectations of all, and they are the ones most often borrowed casually.

Heat is a promise too

Naming a sauce for its heat sets an expectation that then has to be consistent batch to batch, which pushes straight back into the consistency problem. A product called extra hot that varies is a worse position than one that never made the claim.

Decide before the label, not after

Every one of these interacts with the statement of identity, the net weight and the ingredient list. They are cheap decisions on paper and expensive ones after a print run.

Check it is available before you fall in love with it

A name that is already a mark in your category is a name you will be asked to stop using, and the ask usually arrives once you are visible enough to be worth asking. That is a search worth doing at the point the name is a shortlist rather than after a label order, and it is the cheapest due diligence in the whole business.

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