2025
9
US Cooking Sauces, Pasta Sauces and Marinades Market Report 2025
2026-01-02T12:01:35+00:00
REPAA2F83DA_55DA_4448_8F8B_DFEE7DE245AB
4995
191350
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Report
en_GB
Usage of sauces or marinades is almost universal, with nearly nine in 10 people relying on packaged products. Yet only a quarter of users of sauces/marinades use more than once…
US
Oils, Sauces and Seasonings
simple

US Cooking Sauces, Pasta Sauces and Marinades Market Report 2025

"There is an opportunity to increase usage frequency in sauces/marinades. Flavor exploration, multi-use positioning and a focus on naturalness will support sales."

Richard Caines, Senior Analyst, Insights - Food & Drink

Richard Caines, Senior Analyst, Insights - Food & Drink

Market Intelligence ReportsOils, Sauces and SeasoningsUS

US Sauces and Marinades Market – Trends and Insights

  • Usage of sauces or marinades is almost universal, with nearly nine in 10 people relying on packaged products. Yet only a quarter of users of sauces/marinades use more than once a week, leaving a big opportunity for brands to drive more frequent usage on more days. Within sauces, homemade sauce usage stands at six in 10 people, meaning plenty of room for packaged sauce brands to gain a bigger share of meals served with sauces.
  • The inflationary spike of 2022 has had a lasting impact on consumers’ perception of their personal finances. Price is the most important factor in choosing store-bought cooking/pasta sauces or marinades. This aligns with savvy shopping behavior, although being a priority for less than half leaves plenty of room for pricier sauces, reflected in the growth of certain premium sauce brands.
  • Authenticity also plays a notable role with an authentic recipe important to 30% of store-bought sauce users, making this a key aspect in increasing a sauce’s appeal. Among those attaching importance to authentic recipes, 49% are interested in trying restaurant-inspired offerings, highlighting more opportunities for collaborations with restaurants or chefs.

This Report Looks at the Following Areas:

  • Performance of the market
  • Key trends in recent launch activity and future product development opportunities
  • Usage of different types of cooking/pasta sauces and marinades, and usage frequency
  • Occasions and purposes for using cooking/pasta sauces or marinades
  • Factors influencing people’s choice of store-bought products
  • Concepts of interest, including different flavors and less processed, fresh products
  • Attitudes towards cooking/pasta sauces and marinades

 

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  1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

    • What you need to know
    • Outlook for cooking sauces, pasta sauces and marinades
    • Opportunities
    • Promote exploring new dishes/cuisines through sauces
    • Opportunity for brands with multi-use positioning
    • Tap interest in natural, minimally processed and simple ingredients

  2. THE MARKET

    • Snapshot – market size and forecast
    • Consumers and the economic outlook
    • Consumer sentiment remains depressed
    • Graph 1: consumer sentiment index, 2022-25
    • More than four in 10 store-bought sauce users prioritize price
    • Inflation remains cool for now
    • Sales of sauces strongly linked to eating of pasta and cooking at home
    • Graph 2: cooking frequency (not using fully pre-packaged or prepared meals), 2025
    • Concerns about effects of processed foods
    • Slowdown in value sales growth for cooking/pasta sauces and marinades
    • Market size and forecast of cooking sauces, pasta sauces and marinades
    • Graph 3: total retail sales and forecast of cooking sauces, pasta sauces and marinades, 2019-30
    • Sales and forecast of cooking/pasta sauces and marinades at current prices
    • Pasta and pizza sauces see the strongest growth
    • Graph 4: total retail sales of cooking sauces, pasta sauces and marinades, by segment, at current prices, 2019-25
    • Campbell sales boosted by its premium brand, Rao’s
    • Company sales and share of cooking/pasta sauces and marinades

  3. THE CONSUMER

    • Types of cooking/pasta sauces and marinades used
    • Pasta and barbeque sauces take the lead in sauce usage
    • Near universal usage of sauces/marinades; more people sometimes using homemade sauces
    • Graph 5: types of cooking sauces, pasta sauces and marinades used in the past six months, 2023 and 2026
    • Keep referencing being like ‘homemade’
    • Younger generations show lower use of packaged pasta and BBQ sauces
    • Graph 6: types of packaged cooking sauces, pasta sauces and marinades used in the past six months, by generation, 2026
    • Frequency of using cooking/pasta sauces or marinades
    • Frequency of using cooking/pasta sauces increases
    • Graph 7: frequency of using cooking/pasta sauces or marinades, 2023 and 2026
    • Younger people use cooking/pasta sauces most frequently
    • Graph 8: frequency of using cooking/pasta sauces or marinades, by age, 2026
    • Flavor exploration and authenticity
    • Strong interest in flavor exploration in sauces
    • Flavor innovation a good way for brands to increase usage frequency
    • Tap interest in experimentation with recipe discovery packs and campaigns
    • Graph 9: using cooking/pasta sauces or marinades to try new cusines or dishes, 2026
    • Authenticity is important to choice of sauces
    • Versatility in sauces and marinades
    • Versatility important to a third of store-bought sauce/marinade users
    • Communicate elevating taste and improving meals with sauces
    • Graph 10: attitudes towards using sauces/marinades, 2026
    • Highlight use with different ingredients, dishes and cooking methods
    • Naturalness and minimally processed products
    • Naturalness most important to younger generations and parents
    • Being seen as natural has a big influence on choice of packaged sauces/marinades
    • Communicate simple ingredients and clean labels
    • Strong demand for minimally processed, fresh products in sauces

  4. PRODUCT, INNOVATION AND MARKETING

    • Premium continues to be a focus of NPD activity
    • Premium brands putting spotlight on naturalness
    • More 2025 launches of barbeque sauces with a focus on premium
    • More sauces using restaurant-inspired cues to elevate authenticity
    • Williams Sonama launches new collaboration with chef Aarón Sánchez
    • Few healthier claims in sauces go beyond no added sugar
    • Tomato the top flavor in cooking/pasta sauces by some distance
    • Graph 11: share of cooking/pasta sauces launches, by flavour component (top eight), 2020-25
    • Small number of global flavor launches outside top world cuisine choices
    • Storytelling, versatility and passion for bold taste feature in sauce campaigns

  5. APPENDIX

    • Market definition
    • The market
    • Forecast methodology
    • Forecast methodology – fan chart
    • Market size and forecast of cooking/pasta sauces and marinades at current prices
    • Market size and forecast of cooking/pasta sauces and marinades at inflation-adjusted prices
    • Market size and forecast of cooking/pasta sauces and marinades by segment
    • Sales and forecast of pasta and pizza sauce at current prices
    • Sales and forecast of pasta and pizza sauce at inflation-adjusted prices
    • Sales and forecast of barbeque sauce at current prices
    • Sales and forecast of barbeque sauce at inflation-adjusted prices
    • Sales and forecast of tomato bases at current prices
    • Sales and forecast of tomato bases at inflation-adjusted prices
    • Sales and forecast of other sauces and gravy at current prices
    • Sales and forecast of other sauces and gravy at inflation-adjusted prices
    • Average annual household spending on cooking sauces, pasta sauces and marinades
    • Total US retail sales of cooking sauces, pasta sauces and marinades, by segment, at current prices
    • Value, average price and volume of multi-outlet pasta and pizza sauce sales
    • Value, average price and volume of multi-outlet barbeque sauce sales
    • Value, average price and volume of multi-outlet tomato bases sales
    • Value, average price and volume of multi-outlet other sauces and gravy sales
    • Sales of cooking/pasta sauces and marinades by channel
    • Company sales and share of cooking sauces, pasta sauces and marinades
    • Company sales and share of pasta and pizza sauces
    • Company sales and share of barbeque sauces
    • Company sales and share of tomato bases
    • Company sales and share of other sauces and gravy
    • Company sales and share of other sauces and gravy (continued)
    • The consumer
    • Consumer research questions
    • Consumer research methodology
    • Generations
    • Abbreviations

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