Traditionally a testing ground for new flavor ideas, cooking sauces and marinades enjoyed a particularly robust year in 2012.
“Flavor trends start here” is the sign one could post in front of the sauces, marinades and salad dressing market. This market has traditionally served as a petri dish for new flavor and meal ideas, and 2012 was an especially keen year for cooking sauce innovation.
That is a good thing, because the market for sauces and marinades—which includes sectors such as wet cooking sauces, table sauces, condiment sauces and even dry cooking sauces—stumbled on the new product front in 2012. Datamonitor’s Product Launch Analytics database of new products logged a 24% decline in new sauces and marinades in 2012. The news was not quite as bleak in salad dressings, which nevertheless posted a 7% decline in new items in 2012.