The Hot Sauce Craze
There’s a good reason why barbecue and hot sauce are the second and third most popular condiments in the United States. Nearly three-quarters(74%) of Americans enjoy hot sauce1, including tabasco, habanero pepper, jalapeno, sweet and spicy sauces, and spicy ketchup. The segment boasts a 44% share of the category in 2023. It’s also forecast to grow by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.7% to reach a global value of USD 5.98 billion by 20322.
It’s evident – everything tastes better with hot sauce! We would go so far as to say that some of our favorite foods wouldn’t be the same without it, including fast food treats from Burger King, McDonald’s, KFC, Arby’s, Popeyes, Taco Bell, The Halal Guys, Five Guys, Bojangles, and Jack in the Box. Many of these indispensable sauces are available for home use.
Why Are Hot Sauce Sales on Fire?
Leading retail contributors like Kraft Heinz, McCormick & Company, Mcllhenny, Campbell Soup, and Unilever benefit from optimizing their hot sauce offerings. Why? A growing proportion of consumers – those choosing fast food and the increasing population wanting healthier ingredients – crave bold, novel tastes and innovative combinations.
Hot sauces accommodate the demand for cleaner labels, relying on healthy real tomatoes, peppers, chilies, and other fresh and nutritious ingredients. The trend is boosted by a growing curiosity in and acceptance of ethnic and foreign food influences, particularly Mexican, Indian, and Asian Pacific.
The recent global pandemic has also driven an increase in home-cooked meals, often needing a quick and easy flavor boost. Hot sauces offer an ideal solution to this need for unique and exotic sensations, with spicy, peppery, and chili flavor profiles enhancing any dish or product.
According to food guru Martha Stewart3, the condiment genre can help spice up savory meats, vegetables, and snacks, including popcorn, marinades, glazes, and even sweet desserts like ice cream. With hot sauces enjoying a long history, their continued popularity is no passing phase. This mouthwatering and sometimes eye-watering trend is here to stay.
At the same time, with new and exciting hot sauce entrants such as TRUFF with their Jalapeño Lime Hot Sauce incorporating black winter truffle, providing consumers with enticing distractions, established players must up their game with ever more intriguing and tasty product development.
How Can Brands Keep Their Hot Sauce Revenues Blazing?
Beyond new product and line extension launches, brands are adopting new marketing tactics to keep their products at the top of consumers’ minds and tongues, literally and figuratively. For example, in February 2023, Kraft Heinz Company partnered with global musician Ed Sheeran to launch Tingly Ted’s, their new hot sauce product.
Most critically, with product performance key to any hot sauce’s success, using the freshest, most intense-smelling, and tasting ingredients is essential. With exciting combinations, one of the secrets to a condiment’s appeal is incorporating natural and concentrated flavor and taste-enhancing molecules and compounds.
Keep Your Hot Sauces Fiery and Flavorful With Advanced Biotech
Rely on Advanced Biotech’s 100% natural, pure, and EU-certified savory, spicy, and hot flavor and odor ingredients to create appealing hot sauces. Use our responsibly sourced and produced options to add flavor, aroma depth, and heat or replace notes lost during processing or packaging. Please browse our collection of safe and healthy pyrazines, thiazoles, and other extracts. Please contact us to talk to an expert, request samples, or place your order.
1,2 https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/hot-sauce-market-100495
3 https://www.foodrepublic.com/1288266/how-top-vanilla-ice-cream-hot-sauce-right/