The market for sauces in Italy

A ready-made sauce is a finished product (mixture of several ingredients) that can be purchased in grocery stores and supermarkets, the use of which involves only that the contents of the jar are heated and then combined directly with other foods such as pasta or rice.

The ready-made sauce market can be segmented into:

-Tomato-based condiments;

-Pesto;

-Other sauces (micro-category).

This market can also be segmented into hot sauces and cold sauces (mayonnaise, salad dressings, etc.) and is a sub-segment of the condiment market.

The global market for ready-made sauces is definitely growing for several reasons, one of which is the lack of material time to be able to cook that forces consumers to opt for ready-made products. It is projected that The global sales of the sauces and spices market will increase with a CAGR of 4.6 percent from 2014 to 2027, while volume sales of sauces and spices will grow by 1.3 percent during this period. In Italy, the sauces market is basically stable and in retail is worth about 45,000 tons per year. The market value has increased slightly over the years due to the introduction of new products.

In recent years, the penetration of ready-made sauces within Italian households has stood at 55 percent, and it can be seen that 57 percent of volumes are purchased in northern Italy.

The criteria of choice that lead consumers to buy one sauce rather than another are trust in the brand and diversification of recipes, the more sophisticated the recipes are the less the consumer will be driven to an impulsive purchase and it will be easier to make him a regular customer.

Consumers' favorite places to purchase these products are hypermarkets. As for cold sauces we note a positive purchasing trend mainly due to the introduction of e-commerce channels that have become increasingly popular in the post-Covid period.The main trends that have been evidenced by the most important players in the market are the constant search for quality by consumers, attention to raw materials (possibly Italian) used and authentic flavors, and innovation. Innovation is considered a key factor because only by innovating can the producer capture the changing food trends and tastes of consumers.