Food Business News - August 14, 2012 - 39

reduced fat olive oil and cracked pepper.

Ketchup comes to life
Though the mayonnaise category is experiencing innovation, the global table sauces market continues to be dominated by tomato-based products, with a shift toward spicier and more complex ﬂavors, said Lu Ann Williams, research manager at Innova Market Insights, The Netherlands. “There is a trend toward limited-edition products with unusual ﬂavors, such as wasabi or tequila, or products featuring premium ingredients, such as balsamic vinegar, or made with a particular type of tomato,” she said. Lisa Smith, c.e.o. and cocreator of LeRoy’s Gourmet Flavored Ketchups, Milwaukee, a division of the MMGroup, is a fan of ketchup on just about any food, but felt that unlike other condiments, such as salad dressings, barbecue sauce and even mayonnaise, the ketchup aisle was missing some ﬂavorful opportunities. “We took a great deal of time researching specialty ketchup, and our searches turned up fairly empty,” she said. “Yes, there were a couple of German companies making a fantastic curry ketchup, and one or two spicy ketchups out there — but they were very difﬁcult to ﬁnd and clearly not memorable enough to talk about. “We wondered why unique ﬂavors were not more accessible to the consumer. We changed that with our ﬁrst three ﬂavors: beer and onions, chili and smokey mesquite, which were quickly joined by dill pickle and celery and mustard spice.” The product line’s introduction went better than expected, said Ms. Smith. “In prior businesses, I learned that the only way to succeed is to actually listen,” she said. “We had a speciﬁc request from a national meat company to introduce a bacon ﬂavor. Our chefs went to work immediately and crispy bacon

rolled out just in time for the 2012 summer grilling season. It was soon joined by another culinary delight: ghost pepper and aged cheddar.” The H.J. Heinz Co., Pittsburgh, whose ﬂagship namesake product is the No. 1 ketchup brand in the United States, as well as throughout the world, appears to have recognized the opportunity. Heinz Ketchup Blended with Balsamic Vinegar started as a limited-edition ﬂavor in fall 2011 and became part of the brand’s standard line-up of ketchup offerings this past May. The sophisticated twist on the brand’s classic recipe is the ﬁrst new ﬂavor from the com-

pany in nearly a decade. It is made using traditional Heinz variety tomatoes and Heinz’s special blend of spices, but Heinz blends it with a tangy balsamic vinegar instead of traditional distilled white vinegar. “We were thrilled with how people embraced the limitededition ﬂavor and are happ to announce happy that it will join the othe varieties of other Hein Ketchup ofHeinz fered regularly,” said Eric Dahmer, sen senior brand manage ager for Heinz Ke Ketchup. “People to told us they lo loved the famili yet exciting iar, t taste and enjoy i as a key ingreit d dient in favorite r recipes and as a ﬂavor-booster o on mealtime f foods, such as c chicken, pork a and steak to c create a more sophisticated, robust taste.”

Specialty sauces go mainstream
Mainstream barbecue sauce marketers also appear to be stepping out of their comfort zone and dipping into a business that has been largely controlled by smaller specialty foods companies. Sweet Baby

We took a great deal of time W researching specialty ketchup, and resea e our searches turned up fairly empty.
— Lisa Smith, chief executive ofﬁcer of Leroy’s Gourmet Flavored Ketchups

Ray’s, Chicago, now offers a raspberry chipotle ﬂavored barbecue sauce, and Kraft Foods recently created the Garland Jack’s brand of premium barbecue sauces in ﬂavors designed for southern tastes, such as Squealin’ Hot and Sweet’n Sticky Molasses. The brand is functioning autonomously from Kraft, in order to separate itself from the company’s mainstream barbecue sauce brands: Bull’s-Eye and Kraft. The Open Pit brand from Pinnacle Foods Group L.L.C., Mountain Lakes, N.J., is also a new entry to the category and this summer rolled out the Thick & Sweet sub-brand of barbecue sauces in three ﬂavors: apple whiskey, spiced rum, and sugar and bourbon. ACH Food Companies Inc., Memphis, manufacturers of Weber-branded sauces and seasonings, is trying to set itself apart from the competition with new all-natural barbecue sauce made with molasses. “As a southerner, I’m a big fan of molasses,” said Elizabeth Karmel, author of “Taming the Flame,” executive chef at New York’s Hill Country Barbecue Market and Hill Country Chicken, and spokesperson for Weber sauces and seasonings. “It has a richer, more complex ﬂavor and the molasses is the key to creating a distinct, robust taste that you can’t get from high-fructose corn syrup.” Further, using molasses means that the sauce sticks to food rather than dripping into the grill, according to the company. Ms. Smith said that as consumers continue to experiment with layering ﬂavors in foods, the opportunity for innovative condiments will continue to grow. “The consumer these days has a very savvy palate, which is giving us a big window of opportunity,” she said. FBN — Donna Berry editor@sosland.com
The author is a contributing editor for Food Business News and a principal in the ﬁrm Dairy and Food Communications, Inc. Her web site address is www.berryondairy.com.

August 14, 2012

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