Getting Saucy
Indian Biryani cooking sauce is a new ethnic specialty from Loblaws under the President's Choice brand.
Pasta sauces still lead, but the growth is faster in the new generation of marinades. Asian sauces challenge Mexican and other Hispanic sauces for innovation in the ethnic arena.
Indian Biryani cooking sauce may not be a common household item in Canada, let alone in the United States. But Loblaws, Toronto, ON, is giving it a chance under the President’s Choice brand, and it could be a sign of things to come.
Retailers in the United States and Canada are always on the lookout for innovative products that will set their private labels apart from the national brands and other retailers’ brands, and the huge sauces and salsas sector is certainly no exception.
Pasta sauces remain the largest single category in store brand sauces and salsas, with sales up 20.5% to $124.9 million for the 52 weeks ended 7/12/2009, according to Information Resources, Inc. (IRI), Chicago, IL. Here, as in other categories, creativity counts.
One example is the premium Culinary Circle line from Supervalu, Eden Prairie, MN. The 24-oz. line, which comes in distinctively shaped bottles that stand out on the shelves, includes Italian Sausage, Creamy Tomato Florentine, Arrabbita, Marinara and Vegetarian Puttanesca varieties. Regularly priced at $3.99, it was recently featured at $3.49 at Jewel outlets in the Chicago area.
Also part of the Culinary Circle line are refrigerated Classic Alfredo and Vodka pasta sauces in 12-oz. tubs. Refrigerated pasta sauces are cutting edge in private label, and Wegmans, Rochester, NY, is one of the retailers pursuing that frontier with Arrabbiata, Alfredo, light Alfredo and Marinara in 13-oz. sleeve packs and Basil Pesto and Sun Dried Tomato Pesto in 7-oz. packs under the Italian Classics sub-brand. Topco Associates, Skokie, IL, offers Pesto Romana under its Dining In brand and Rosée Cream under its World Classics Trading Co. brand.
But economy pasta sauces are also flourishing. Topco is appealing to that segment with the three basics – original, meat-flavored and mushroom – under the Clear Value and Valu Time brands in 26-oz. jars. Topco offers 45-oz. economy sizes under its first-line Food Club brand; canned spaghetti sauces and spaghetti sauce mixes in packets are also available under that brand. For the organic niche, there are four Full Circle SKUs.
Wegmans ranks its 24-oz. Food You Feel Good About bottled Basil and Marinara pasta sauces as first and second in popularity among 124 listings for the category at its website, with Roasted Garlic and Four Cheese coming in fourth and fifth and Chunky Marinara twelfth. Its Asian-style barbecue sauce, meanwhile, is the top-ranked among 18 items in the Asian sauce category.
Asian sauces in private label used to be limited to soy, or maybe teriyaki at most. But now Thai specialties are becoming common. At Wegmans, store brands include Thai peanut sauce and Zesty Thai marinade. Topco offers an Asian-style sesame pork and poultry marinade under the World Classics Trading Co. brand. Red, yellow and green curry sauces are all available at Trader Joe’s, Monrovia, CA.
Teriyaki sauce is a familiar sight in private label now, almost as familiar as soy sauce. But Trader Joe’s also offers a gyoza dipping sauce, and goes beyond plain soy sauce with Trader Ming’s Soyaki sauce – it includes garlic, ginger and sesame and is recommended for meat, poultry, fish, tofu and vegetables. An Island Soyaki variant adds pineapple juice.
Asian marinades tap into the growing popularity of marinades generally. New President’s Choice items at Loblaws include 5-Spice Teriyaki, Citrus Herb, Honey Mustard and Steak marinades – plus Souvlaki, a Greek variety recommended for chicken, lamb and pork that is made from canola oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, herbs, lemon juice and several seasonings. Already part of the President’s Choice line were Lemon & Herb seafood and Garlic & Rosemary White Balsamic marinades.
Fast-Growing Categories
Marinades and miscellaneous Asian sauces are the fastest-growing subcategories in store brand sauces, according to IRI. Marinades grew by 27.9% to $23.4% for the 52 weeks ended 7/12/2009, and Asian sauces other than soy 29.3% to $9.6 million. Mexican sauces in private label still dwarf Asian, and will probably continue to do so – but Asian sauces are bound to gain in share. Barbecue sauces, up 25.7% to $31.3 million, include – like marinades – Asian varieties, as witness Wegmans. Overall Asian sauce sales may thus be greater than they seem at first glance.
Taco sauce is showing stronger growth than other sauces in the Mexican category, with a 25.4% increase, but at $4.1 million, it’s pretty marginal compared to salsas at $112.1 million (up 13.8%). Picante sauce at $8.1 million (up 14.5%) and all others at $6.1 million (up 13%) are also niche items. In salsas, the big thing right now is chipotle: Topco for example, offers both medium and hot chipotle pepper salsas under its World Classics Trading Co. brand, plus an organic medium version under its Full Circle brand.
The President’s Choice line at Loblaws includes Smokey Chipotle and Tomatillo along with extra chunky basic varieties and other specialties like Mango & Lime; organic hot salsa and fat-free Lemon & Chili are there to serve the niche market.
Other Topco entries include Cilantro Mild Tomato and Savory Cilantro, along with established varieties frequently seen elsewhere like Corn & Black Bean and Peach & Pineapple. Supervalu is pushing the envelope with a refrigerated Red Chile Enchilada sauce under the Culinary Circle brand. Green Chile salsa under the Private Selection brand at Kroger, Cincinnati, OH; and Volcano salsa under the Carlita brand from Supervalu, Eden Prairie, MN, are more a matter of hype.
Kroger is trying to liven up its private label steak sauce with a new 11.5-oz. size, plus a choice of traditional, bold & spicy and sweet & spicy varieties. And Topco is tapping into the premium segment with World Classics Trading Co. Italian-style red and white clam sauces, Spicy Cajun seafood sauce, Cioppino sauce and more.
