Stay ahead of the curve in the UK cooking and pasta sauce market with Mintel’s UK cooking sauces and pasta sauces market report 2024. Our full report is packed with consumer-led market intelligence, the latest trends and consumer behaviours affecting your industry. Get a 360° view of the UK cooking sauces and pasta sauces market including market size, share and forecasted growth to help you align your business strategy with the needs of your audience.
Key Issues Covered in this Report
- The impact of the income squeeze on the market and the outlook for the next five years
- Key new product development trends in the category
- Usage of cooking and pasta sauces by type and occasion
- Factors associated with good value in cooking and pasta sauces, including better-for-you attributes
- Behaviours related to cooking and pasta sauces, including perceptions of these as processed
- Concepts of interest in cooking and pasta sauces, including one-pan solutions
UK Cooking and Pasta Sauces Market Overview
The category experienced double-digit value growth in 2023, however, this is largely a result of soaring inflation rather than a strong underlying performance, with volume sales falling. While some people will have looked to cooking sauce as a cheaper alternative to foodservice or ready meals, the appeal of scratch-cooking as a means to save money has seen some consumers turn from the category.
UK Cooking and Pasta Sauces Consumer Trends
Looking forward, consumer interest in health is expected to strengthen once real income growth regains momentum. This focus on health translates into consumers’ priorities in the cooking/pasta sauce category. Half of users/buyers ranked a better-for-you factor among the top three they most associate with good value. Exploring better-for-you aspects will become increasingly important for both brands and own-label to maintain interest.
Purchase the full report for a complete overview of the cooking and pasta sauces market in the UK, including market dynamics, consumer insights, innovation and marketing opportunities, and key brand metrics into the market leaders. Readers of this report may also be interested in Mintel’s Future of Cooking and Pasta Sauces.
Report Scope
This report examines the UK retail market for cooking and pasta sauces.
- Cooking and pasta sauces are defined as sauces used during the preparation of food and those used in the kitchen, rather than at the table. They fall into three categories.
- Cook-in sauces (including cooking pastes) are added to ingredients at an early stage of cooking, such as chilli con carne or Bolognese. Stir-fry sauces and stir-fry pastes are a style of cook-in sauce primarily intended for use with a wok or quick frying style of cooking.
- Pour-over sauces are added to the meal just before the end of cooking, or poured over the top just before serving, such as parsley sauce, some pasta sauces and pesto sauce.
- Oven-bake sauces are added to other ingredients part way through cooking before the dish is placed in the oven.
The cooking and pasta sauces market may also be divided into wet sauces and dry sauces.
- Wet sauces are packaged in jars, cans, pouches or cartons and may be ambient or chilled.
- Dry sauces come in packets or cartons and require the addition of water or other liquid to rehydrate them before use.
This report features key brand metrics for selected key brands in the UK cooking sauces and pasta sauces market: Colman’s, Schwartz, Sacla, Sharwood’s, Patak’s, Dolmio, and Lloyd Grossman.
Expert Analysis from an Industry Specialist
This report, written by Isabelle Shilling, a leading analyst in the food sector, delivers in-depth commentary and analysis to highlight current industry trends in the cooking and pasta sauces market and adds expert context to the numbers.
Soaring inflation has seen double-digit value growth in the market, amid falling volumes. Targeting time-poor and health conscious consumers will gain importance.
Isabelle Shilling
Research Analyst
Collapse All
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- Key issues covered in this Report
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Executive Summary
- Opportunities for the cooking and pasta sauce market
- Market dynamics and outlook
- Graph 1: retail value sales of cooking/pasta sauces, by segment, 2021-23
- Graph 2: retail sales of leading brands in cooking/pasta sauces, by value, 2020/21-22/23
- What consumers want and why
- Graph 3: usage of cooking and pasta sauces, by type, 2021-23
- Graph 4: frequency of usage of cooking sauces, by type, 2023
- Graph 5: occasions for using cooking/pasta sauces, 2023
- Graph 6: factors most associated with good value in cooking/pasta sauces, 2023
- Graph 7: behaviours related to cooking/pasta sauces, 2023
- Graph 8: concepts of interest in cooking/pasta sauces, 2023
- Innovation and marketing
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Market Dynamics
- Market size
- Graph 9: retail value sales of cooking and pasta sauces, 2019-23
- Market forecast
- Market segmentation
- Graph 10: retail value sales of cooking/pasta sauces, by segment, 2021-23
- Graph 11: retail value sales of ambient wet and dry cooking and pasta sauces, by cuisine, 2021-23
- Market share
- Graph 12: retail sales of leading brands in cooking/pasta sauces, by value, 2020/21-2022/23
- Macro-economic factors
- Graph 13: GDP, 2021-23
- Graph 14: CPI inflation rate, 2021-23
- Graph 15: “Have you been affected by any of these issues over the last two months? Please select all that apply.”, 2023
- Graph 16: all food and sauces/condiments CPI, annual change, 2019-23
- Graph 17: the financial wellbeing index, 2016-23
- Graph 18: the financial confidence index, 2016-23
- Social, environmental and legal factors
- Graph 19: how often people try to eat healthily, 2018-22
- Graph 20: trends in the age structure of the UK population, 2018-28
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What Consumers Want and Why
- Usage of cooking/pasta sauces by type
- Graph 21: usage of cooking and pasta sauces, by type, 2021-23
- Graph 22: frequency of usage of cooking sauces, by type, 2023
- Usage of cooking/pasta sauces by occasion
- Graph 23: occasions for using cooking/pasta sauces, 2023
- Factors associated with good value
- Graph 24: factors most associated with good value in cooking/pasta sauces, 2023
- Behaviours related to cooking sauces and pasta sauces
- Graph 25: behaviours related to cooking/pasta sauces, 2023
- Graph 26: users/buyers often in a rush when shopping for cooking/pasta sauces, by usage frequency, 2023
- Concepts of interest in cooking/pasta sauces
- Graph 27: concepts of interest in cooking/pasta sauces, 2023
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Innovation And Marketing Trends
- Launch activity and innovation
- Graph 28: share of branded and private label launches, 2019-23
- Graph 29: vegetarian, vegan and plant-based claims in cooking and pasta sauce product launches, 2019-23
- Advertising and marketing activity
- Graph 30: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on cooking sauces, 2020-2023
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Brand research
- Graph 31: brand personality – micro image, 2023
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Appendix
- Supplementary data: launch activity and innovation
- Graph 32: launches cooking/pasta sauces, by launch type, 2019-23
- Supplementary data: advertising and marketing activity
- Market segmentation
- Market share
- Market forecast data and methodology
- Report scope and definitions
- Methodology
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