CHICAGO—The sauce and marinades market is benefitting from the current cook-at-home craze, but that success could be short-lived, according to Mintel.
According to recent research, the cooking sauces and marinades category gained 20% in U.S. retail sales between 2005 and 2010 and is expected to increase by another 19% by 2015.
“With more people staying in and preparing meals at home, we are not surprised to see this category increase," notes David Browne, senior analyst at Mintel. “However, this sector may see some challenges in the next few years with people starting to eat out more, higher ingredient prices deterring purchases, and easy-to-prepare convenience foods like frozen entrées and pre-seasoned meats increasing in the marketplace."
The cooking sauces and marinades market is divided into five segments, with dry sauces and wet sauces being the largest with just over 26% market share each. Ethnic sauces, barbecue sauces and refrigerated/frozen sauces follow with 19%, 18% and 10%, respectively.
According to Mintel, 83% of adults who cook/prepare meals at home say they use sauces/marinades or dry seasonings to prepare a meal. Store-bought marinades are most popular, with nearly three-quarters (74%) of home cooks using them. Just over half (51%) of cooks report using homemade sauces where they combine their own ingredients.
According to David Browne, “one-in-four of those who cook at least half of their meals at home, and use store-bought sauces, feel that purity claims like natural, or no additives and preservatives, are important when shopping for sauces and marinades. Marketers are meeting this need by introducing new products using these claims, and/or reformulating existing products."
