Sauces - table 2024: spicy trend behind table sauce growth

There’s no stopping Nando’s. As in last year’s report, it’s the most successful of the top 10 table sauce brands – up £4.7m on volume growth of 7.8%. That’s after extending its peri-peri expertise into ketchup in the summer.

Nando’s has two strings to its bow: the popularity of its high street restaurants and its spicy condiments, which play into the UK’s unquenchable appetite for sauces with a kick. That second factor has also benefited Cholula hot sauce and Flying Goose sriracha – up 34% and 24.3% in volume respectively.

Chilli is still an “on-trend flavour”, confirms Zoe Dean, NIQ analytics executive.

To cash in, other brands are diversifying into more piquant options. Take Vadasz, which made its first foray into table sauces in September with a zingy trio (see Top Launch, below). Then there’s Sauce Shop, which in August added Burnt Pineapple Hot and Buffalo Hot Sauce – both made with habanero chillies. The Nottingham brand finishes the year with a 24.3% volume gain.

“With the demand for spicy flavours increasing, we’re experimenting more than ever with new hot sauce flavours,” says Pam Digva, co-founder of Sauce Shop.

Some bigger spicy brands have failed to capitalise on the chilli craze, however. Blue Dragon, Tabasco and Encona have seen their volumes slide 1.6%, 6.2% and 2.6% respectively over the past year.

In an effort to improve its fortunes, Blue Dragon relaunched its Sweet Chilli Sauce in spring, with a new-look squeezy bottle and a “slightly thicker” version of the sauce itself. At the time, the brand pledged to invest in a “million-pound marketing campaign to support the launch across the next 12 months”.

The past year has been tricky for other major brands, too. Take Unilever-owned Hellmann’s, which  has lost £2.4m on volumes down 2.1%, after consumers looked to diversify away from its core mayo into other flavours and sauce types. To tackle the issue, Hellmann’s has pushed its flavoured mayos.

These have enjoyed “strong growth” – especially Chilli Charger and Roasted Garlic – says Unilever marketing director for nutrition Georgina Bradford.

Read more: Table sauces 2023: Shoppers seeking out spicy sauces