Sauces and Dressings have long been a staple in the grocery store, oftentimes spread across different aisles increasing their visibility and footprint. They are the unsung hero counterparts to new, delicious menu items, working in tandem to create a comprehensive food experience that consumers love at restaurants. They even inspire at-home creativity amongst novices and experienced cooks in the kitchen, creating variations on favorite store-bought items, or making adjustments to fit a picky palate or allergy. Even with all this focus, we still found ourselves scratching our heads wondering…what’s next for sauces and dressings?
To answer this question, we knew we needed to bring some future-forward thought leaders to the table to discuss. We did this by eliciting help from our friends at Datassential, Mintel and Tastewise, which led to a robust discussion that you can watch here: Sauces Roundtable
In answering this question of “what’s next?” for sauces and dressings, we looked to cues from CPG, to food service, to global, to local, to social media influences on consumers and more.
We took a look at what’s trending and influencing consumers and this is what we predict is next:
Globally-Inspired
- Of the global regions, Asian cuisine is the most favored overall by consumers
- 38% of consumers’ last global dish consumed (beyond mainstream Italian, Mexican and Chinese) was Asian-influenced, notably higher than all other global regions
- Upcycling is trending in Europe and will also grow in the US. Over 35% of French and German Millennials are interested in buying condiments made with upcycled ingredients.
Functional
- Only 4% of sauces made a functional claim in 2021, but increasingly shoppers will look to foods in general to meet specific health goals and expect more from diets beyond basic nutrition
- 36% of US millennials consumed more foods to build immunity since COVID-19
- 46% of US 18-34s are trying to add more plant-based food to their diets
Food Service and Operations
- When we ask operators how many of them use pre-made versus scratch, the majority (65%) make their own sauces and gravies. If they could use those over multiple items and day parts it would make their lives much easier
- Use of locally-based sauces are up +51% in the last year alone, with a big share of that coming from local “star” products that find their way from food service into people’s kitchens
To watch and listen to more of the roundtable discussion, register for the roundtable on-demand here: https://webinars.on24.com/Givaudan/SaucesRoundtable?partnerref=ondemand. Discover what’s next for sauces and dressings.
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