Famous name sauces see sales drop
Heinz and HP are selling fewer of their iconic sauces. Does this mean the beginning of the end of these classic condiments?
Sales of iconic sauces are falling in the UK, according to new figures.
Trade magazine The Grocer reports that sales of Heinz tomato ketchup are down by 7%. Meanwhile, Heinz-owned HP’s sauces have experienced a 5.8% dip and sales of Branston's sauces have fallen by 9%.
Bucking the price trend
One reason why we might have been put off buying Heinz's Tommy K is the price, which has risen by more than 11% in the past year. Meanwhile, the average price increase for the sauces and condiments sector as a whole is a more modest 3.9%.
And, as times have got tougher, many of us have ditched big brands in favour of own brands. Or we've swapped the big supermarkets for budget stores such as Aldi and Lidl.
A quick search on shopping website MySupermarket shows that a 460g bottle of Heinz ketchup sells for between £1.80 and £1.85.
Contrast that to Asda's Smartprice basic ketchup (550g), which costs just 18p. Even the ordinary Asda own-brand (470g) only sells for 84p, while a bottle of Aldi's Bramwells ketchup (563g) is 69p.
In my experience, there's a discernable taste difference between budget and branded sauces, but is it worth paying a £1 premium for? Depends on how much tomato ketchup you eat I suppose.
More sauces than you can shake a bottle at
There's also the fact that there are far more sauces out there, catering to more specific tastes.
Just looking at the Heinz range, there's organic tomato ketchup, reduced salt and sugar tomato ketchup, original barbecue sauce, sticky barbecue sauce, chipotle and garlic sauce, hot sauce, and fire cracker sauce.
Meanwhile, HP has launched the likes of fruity sauce, Guinness brown sauce (now discontinued) and pepper sauce
And it isn’t that we’re buying fewer sauces. Heinz tomato ketchup and HP sauces are actually going against the trend, with sales in the sauces and condiments sector growing by 1% in the past 12 months.
In a poll last year, you told us brown sauce was your favourite type of sauce by a mile, with tomato in a distant second. Now we're curious to know whether you buy the big brand sauces. Cast your vote in our poll below.
While it’s too early to call the end of these iconic products, they obviously need to up their game and/or cut their prices.
Let us know if you think there are simply too many sauces out there or if it’s just a question of price in the Comments box below.
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