Mintel: Growth peppered into sauces, marinades market

CHICAGO — The sauces and marinades market has experienced a 20% upswing in U.S. retail sales between 2005 and 2010, and is expected to increase an additional 19% by 2015.

According to a new report by Mintel, the cooking sauces and marinades market is divided into five segments — dry sauces and other wet sauces are the largest, with each capturing a little more than 26% of the market share. Ethnic sauces, barbecue sauces and refrigerated/frozen sauces followed with 19%, 18% and 10%, respectively. The gain could be attributed to the fact that more people are preparing meals at home.

"With more people staying in and preparing meals at home, we are not surprised to see this category increase," Mintel senior analyst David Browne said. "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 entrees and preseasoned meats increasing in the marketplace."

Additional findings included:

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  83% of adults who cook/prepare meals at home said they use sauces/marinades or dry seasonings to prepare a meal at home;

  
  


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  Store-bought marinades are most popular, with nearly three-quarters (74%) of home cooks using them, while 51% of cooks use homemade sauces where they combine their own ingredients;

  
  


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  Among home cooks, 52% are preparing more meals at home; and

  
  


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  64% said they enjoy experimenting with new recipes.