Meat+Poultry - November 2017 - 77

Culinary professionals add flavor and heat
to condiments to satisfy today's consumer
BY D O N N A B E R RY | m e a t p o u l t r y @ s o s l a n d.c o m

W

hen Sergio Villegas
mistakenly read a half
Buffalo/half garlic order
for chicken wings at Paisans Pizzeria
& Bar, a suburban Chicago restaurant
chain, he mixed the two sauces
together and tossed the wings. The
server made him redo the order for
accuracy, while the staff sampled his
new creation and liked it. Since then, he
fine-tuned the recipe, now featured on
the menu and described as "our signature
mild Buffalo wings tossed with a savory
garlic butter and topped with Parmesan."
Trial and error is how many sauces are
created. Culinary professionals add layers of
flavor, often with a kick of heat, to take today's
consumers on the flavor adventure they crave.
"One of the easiest ways for chefs to address
consumer demand for variety is with sauces,"
says Kate Leahy, spokeswoman for Sunsweet
Ingredients, Yuba City, California.
Home cooks, too, recognize
the ease-in-use and versatility of
cooking and condiment sauces.
Manufacturers are responding
through enticing innovations
ranging from regional
barbecue to globally
inspired hot
sauces.

HEALTHY OPTIONS DRIVE GROWTH
Consumer demand for condiment and cooking
sauces helped the market reach $24 billion
in sales in 2016, according to a report by
Packaged Facts, Rockville, Maryland. Annual
retail sales have been growing at a rate of
about 2 percent and comparable growth is
anticipated through 2021.
"Sauce formulators need to be aware
that while consumers want to explore
ethnic cuisines and flavor fusions, they are
also looking to make better-for-you dietary
choices," Leahy says.
"Sauces are increasingly being marketed as
organic and healthy, with new options such as
low-sodium or low-sugar varieties supporting
restrictive diets," says David Sprinkle, research
director at Packaged Facts.
"Marketing products as certified organic or
carrying 'free-from' labels has become part of
several trends that will help keep sauces and
condiments popular with a range of influential
consumers," he says.
Premiumization of flavor profiles, ingredient
sourcing and authentic recipes are driving growth
of the shelf-stable sauces category. Such specialty
sauces represent about 20 percent of the category,
and are expected to grow about 5 percent
annually in dollar sales, according to the Specialty
Foods Association. Cooking sauces, flavored
mayonnaises and hot sauces contribute the most
to sales, with cooking sauces accounting for
about 40 percent of total sales. Not surprisingly,
millennials' affinity for convenient fresh meals is
driving innovation and category growth.

"Sauce
formulators
need to
be aware
that while
consumers
want to explore
ethnic cuisines
and flavor
fusions, they
are also looking
to make betterfor-you dietary
choices."
- KATE LEAHY

THE FLAVOR SHIFT
Research shows that ongoing multicultural
changes in the US and a desire for authentic
recipes are expanding the category with exotic
flavor profiles. For Daniela Barreto, manager
and chef of Brazilian-themed Estadio Grill,
Chicago, it is a combination of three tropical
fruits - açaí, passionfruit and guarana - that
serves as a backdrop for her exotic secret
"Brazinha" hot wing sauce.

Snap Kitchen, Austin, Texas,
offers internationally-inspired
bowls like the Mediterranean
Mezze Bowl with beet hummus
and cashew tzatziki and the
Tex-Mex Chicken Bowl with
spirulina crema and red salsa.

www.meatpoultry.com | 11.17 | MEAT+ POULTRY

77
http://www.meatpoultry.com
Meat+Poultry - November 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Meat+Poultry - November 2017
