Sales of brown sauce putting the squeeze on ketchup in the UK, says report
LONDON, Feb 12 — Despite suffering a setback last year after the biggest maker of ‘brown sauce’ reformulated a centuries’-old recipe, much to the public's distaste, new market survey reveals that sales of the traditional British condiment rose between 2010 and 2011.
According to a market research report on sauces and seasonings by Mintel, released February 10, sales of brown sauce rose nine percent from £47 million (RM224 million) in 2010 to £51 million in 2011.
The news may come as surprise to some, given the amount of flack brown sauce maker Heinz received last year after changing the 116-year-old recipe of their signature HP Sauce.
The changes were made after signing on to the government’s Responsibility Deal which asked food manufacturers to reduce the sodium content in their products, part of an overall goal that aims to reduce per capita salt intake by 1 gram a day by the end of 2012.
In British households, brown sauce is the go-to condiment for punching up fry-up breakfasts, baked beans and bacon sandwiches, and is made with tomatoes, malt vinegar, molasses, dates, tamarind, and a blend of spices.
Their HP Reduced Salt and Sugar contains 25 per cent less salt and 30 per cent less sugar than the Original HP Sauce.
But public reaction to the revised formula was visceral among Brits who’ve grown up with the same recipe for more than a century, as consumers complained that the new taste was bland or had an offputting aftertaste to major media outlets in the UK.
Perhaps its most influential critic was celebrity TV chef Marco Pierre White who told UK paper The Telegraph that he mistakenly sent back a dish of sausages and mash at a restaurant thinking the dish was off.
Meanwhile, poor summer weather in 2011 is being blamed for weak sales of barbecue sauce compared to the year previous, when Brits broke out the grill for events like the FIFA Football World Cup, the report added. — AFP-Relaxnews
