Americans are becoming more adventurous eaters, especially when it comes to flavors. The standard array of condiments has expanded beyond ketchup, mustard, salt, and pepper to include hot honey, sriracha, and sweet chili, and consumers have become much more enthusiastic about trying new sauces in their main dishes.
When Technomic polled 1,500 restaurant customers for its 2023 Flavor Consumer Trend Report, nearly half said they were looking for something different or wanted to try new flavors, and 38% said they were more interested in trying new flavors than they were a year ago. Among Gen Z and Millennial consumers, ages 18-34, 42% said they were more likely to try a dish if it had an interesting new sauce.
Sauce Craft by Ventura Foods offers convenience store food service operators a quick and easy way to experiment with exciting new flavors. There are 28 sauces that can be used in a variety of ways, not just as enhancements to finished dishes, but also as salad dressings or marinades. Chefs can use with them straight out of the bottle or they can stir in their own special ingredients to create custom sauce flavors. Sauce Craft by Ventura Foods offers a convenient a one-stop shop for operators looking for easy ways to enhance a variety of dishes. Some flavors even come packaged in PC cups for easy takeout options.
A team of R&D experts and chefs worked together to develop recipes that both food service operators and customers can trust. The flavors are innovative and feature ingredients you can feel good about: most of the sauces are gluten-free and avoid additives such as high-fructose corn syrup. Many are also vegetarian-friendly and kosher-certified.
Sauce Craft by Ventura Foods recently introduced three exciting new offerings: Blazin Ghost Pepper, Spicy Teriyaki, and Mango Habanero. All three satisfy customers’ appetite for adventurous flavors, and they work equally well with a variety of popular c-store offerings, including burgers, tenders, and wings.
Sauce Craft by Ventura Foods line is divided into four different categories:
- Signature Solutions includes bold and adventurous flavors such as Caribbean Jerk (one of the top 10 most popular sauces, according to Technomic) and Nashville Hot, as well as Signature Sauce, a combination of honey mustard and BBQ flavors.
- Sweet Heat is on the rise: according to Datassential SNAP, it’s grown 216% since 2011 and is predicted to outperform 79% of all other foods, beverages, and ingredients over the next four years. Sauce Craft’s offerings include Gochujang Korean Pepper, Honey Sriracha, Sweet Chili Sauce, and Hot Honey Sauce, the hottest both in taste and in popularity having grown 101% over the past four years according to Datassential.
- BBQ uses natural wood smoke to create subtle flavor complexity, and the sauces themselves have been designed to cling to food for full-flavored dishes. Sauce Craft offers 8 flavors: Sweet & Spicy, Smoky, Sweet & Smoky, Smoked Black Pepper, Applewood Smoked Bacon, Chipotle Honey, Honey Bourbon, and tangy tomato Original.
- And, finally, there are Kitchen Fundamentals, the tried and true crowd-pleasers: Garlic Parmesan, Buffalo, Teriyaki, and 1000 Island. Six more flavors are available in squeeze bottles so customers can fix dishes to their own specifications: Buttermilk Ranch, Chipotle Ranch, Yellow Mustard, Brown Deli Mustard, Honey Mustard, and Sriracha.
The sauces come in a variety of sizes to suit every need, from gallons and pails for the kitchen to squeeze bottles for the table and dip cups for takeout and delivery.
For more information about Sauce Craft by Ventura Food line and samples, click here.
This post is sponsored by Ventura Foods®