The market for table sauces and spreads is estimated by Key Note to have been worth £822m at retail selling prices (rsp) in 2006, a rise of 2.5% on 2005.
Between 2002 and 2006, the market grew by an estimated 12.4%, which was more or less in line with inflation.
This would suggest that between 2002 and 2006, little real market growth was achieved.Table sauces and spreads comprise a range of products used as accompaniments to other foods.
Table sauces include products such as tomato ketchup, brown sauce, pickles, chutneys and relishes, and salad accompaniments.
Spreads include sweet options such as jam, marmalade and honey, as well as savoury products such as peanut butter, Marmite and sandwich pastes.
Table sauces are the larger of the two sectors and, between 2002 and 2006, they also demonstrated a slightly higher level of growth.New product development (NPD) continues to be one of the main drivers of sales in the sauces and spreads sector, with much of this innovation being influenced by the trend for healthier eating and for foods that contain lower levels of salt, fats and carbohydrates.
The use of more conveniently packaged containers for sauces and spreads, such as the squeezy bottle, is also helping to boost sales for products that adopt this type of packaging.There has been a considerable amount of consolidation within the sauces and spreads market since 2005.
Principal among these was the purchase of HP Foods Ltd by HJ Heinz Company Ltd and the acquisition of the Campbell Soup Company Ltd and RHM PLC by Premier Foods PLC.
These acquisitions have, in turn, resulted in the rationalisation of some operations.
For example, HJ Heinz is to close its HP Sauce factory in Birmingham and transfer production to a plant in the Netherlands.The market for table sauces and spreads is forecast to show continued growth between 2007 and 2011, although Key Note anticipates that this growth will be fairly limited and likely to be driven by price rather than volume rises.
NPD will remain a key determinant of growth in the sector, with consumer demand for healthier ranges of sauces and spreads being at the forefront of this trend.