Article Information

• ARTICLE_POSTED_BY: Haiti Place
• ARTICLE_POSTED_ON: Nov 16, 2014
• Views : 950
• Category : Business
• Description :

  Somewhere in their refrigerators nearly every Haitian family in Haiti or abroad have this traditional blend of spices and fresh herbs that they add to their cooking. It's their secret sauce.

Overview

• Madame Sara's sauces
  Photo Courtesy: Madame Sara, LLC

  Somewhere in their refrigerators nearly every Haitian family in Haiti or abroad have this traditional blend of spices and fresh herbs that they add to their cooking. It's their secret sauce.

  In 2010, while a student of International Relations in London, Katyana André, noticed that her friends were always curious about this sauce she used in her cooking. They all liked it. Since then she has been working on perfecting the Haitian mix taught by her grandmother. She has added her personal touch to the original recipe and customized it to the point where it can be used not just for cooking, but also as a dip or salad dressing.

  The brand name Madame Sara came when her classmate designed the logo for the sauce inspired from paintings of Haitian women in the marketplaces.

  "It is a typical name given to women marketers in Haiti, all of them are called Madame Sara. And I said: 'This is brilliant, I'm going to call it Madame Sara's sauce,'" says Katyana.

  "I've always admired these women. I've always thought that the hardest working people in Haiti are the people that are doing these types of work. My grandmother was one herself. She used to tell me stories about how she would sell in marketplaces and used that money to send her kids to school."

  Katyana developed three flavors for her sauce: Cilantro Thyme Infused - Mild, Spicy Ginger Garlic - Medium, and Habanero Madness - Hot.

  With the help of her classmates, she started selling the sauce in the London open air markets and in some stores.

  Facing the harsh reality

  When she first tried to sell her Haitian sauce, Katyana had to face the reality of Haiti's image in the world. People were hesitant about buying a Haitian product, and they did not show much interest to try it either.

  Katyana remembers one instance when she was doing a tasting in a store and she had a big poster that said Haitian sauce. No one approached. As soon as she removed the word

  "Haiti" from the poster and promoted the product as Caribbean, the response was very different.

  "I tried removing the word Haiti from the poster and once I did, people were coming and then I would tell them afterwards that it was from Haiti. So it didn't help having Haiti in big letters. It was a sad thing to realize, but I had to make a marketing decision," shared Katyana.