Consumers use Bachan's Japanese Dipping Sauce to enhance everything from chicken tenders, fries and burgers to summer rolls and hot dogs. It also functions as a salad marinade.
Hot, Spicy and Asian
Over the decades, the American palate has grown hotter and spicier as people embrace ethnic cuisines and new ingredients. “Spice levels are going up,” affirms Chef Suhan Lee at Get Saucy, which provides options for those on restricted diets. “People are ready to have more fun with food but expect more from it.”
At Pelham, N.Y.-based DeCicco & Sons, Joseph DeCicco Jr., partner and head of purchasing, identifies Truff’s hot sauces as trending. Huntington Beach, Calif.-based Truff offers Truffle Hot Sauce and Green Hot Sauce and will soon launch a “straight” buffalo sauce. “These are all spins on classic preparations. They can be used on eggs, sandwiches and pizza,” says DeCicco. “People are subbing out classic condiments like ketchup and mayonnaise with new, modern takes.” He also cites the ongoing popularity of hot honey sauce.
Hot honey is also important in dips. Cedar Mediterranean Foods debuted Topped Organic Hot Honey Hummus last spring, aligning with “the growing popularity of spicy cuisine and ‘swicy’ trends,” according to Aimee Tsakirellis, Cedar’s EVP of marketing. The hummus combines the sweet notes of honey with the spicy taste of chili, making the product “the perfect balance of sweet and savory with a slight kick,” she adds. “It offers a unique flavor palate not often seen in hummus.”
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In May 2024, Haverhill, Mass.-based Cedar launched three feta dips with bold ingredients: Spicy Red Pepper, Kalamata Olive, and Garlic & Chive. The non-GMO dips are organic, natural and clean label.
Additionally, Asian flavors are continuing their momentum, “including sauces, anything ramen-related and anything that goes with it,” says DeCicco. “I think social media is driving it.” At DeCicco’s, the trend is heavily influencing barbecue sauce options, with both Kinder’s (Japanese) and Bon Chon’s (Korean) products being popular.
Kinder’s Japanese BBQ Cooking Sauce & Glaze is a savory blend of soy sauce, ginger and garlic, sans gluten or high-fructose corn syrup. The brand recently relaunched its sauce line in user-friendly plastic squeeze bottles, observes DeCicco. Plastic bottles are easier to use and lighter than glass. “They’re awesome sellers,” he adds.
In August, Bachan’s Japanese Dipping Sauce introduced a clean-label vegan product made with traditional Japanese ingredients, including neri goma (stone-ground sesame paste), suri goma (crushed sesame seeds), white miso and real ginger, “which instantly brings umami-filled flavor to any dish,” says Justin Gill, founder and CEO of Sebastopol, Calif.-based Bachan’s. Most dipping sauces, he adds, are ketchup- or mayonnaise-based.
Gill notes that consumers “use our dipping sauces in various ways — on summer rolls and chicken tenders; on fries, burgers and hot dogs; and as a marinade for cucumber salad and much more.”
Flavor for All
For its part, Get Saucy is targeting special diets with sauces and seasonings for people with autoimmune diseases and food allergies. Lee, whose partner has Crohn’s disease, explains that people living with this condition must avoid foods like seed oils, tree spices, tomatoes and other products, making their diet “very bland … but they want flavor.”
Get Saucy addresses the flavor challenge with specific ingredients. Its new tomato-free marinara, for example, contains beets, carrots and butternut squash. “Nothing odd,” notes Lee. There are also a tikka masala and a barbecue sauce. “Some ingredients may not be familiar,” he admits. “They’re there for nutritional and functional reasons and are described on our website.” The line will eventually contain about a half-dozen SKUs.
Flavors were chosen due to their broad appeal and user versatility. In addition to people with dietary restrictions, research uncovered interest from those concerned with fitness and health, says Lee. The foods’ clean-label ingredients come from small, organic farms.