“Hot sauce is having more than just a moment; it’s having a decade,” writes Quartz.
Using data from Euromonitor, Quartz has charted the growth of mustard, ketchup, mayo, soy sauce, BBQ sauce, and hot sauce markets from 2000 to 2013.
What did they find? The US hot sauce market has grown by 150% since 2000, which is more than that of BBQ sauce, ketchup, mayonnaise and mustard—combined.
Apparently, America’s love of hot sauce has a lot to do with the US’s rising immigrant population—especially the influx of Asians and Latinos, who have helped make spicy food more commonplace. Most Americans are now accustomed to fiery cuisines like Mexican, Indian, Korean, and Thai.
We believe it, since the American population has developed a full-blown obsession with sauces like Sriracha and Frank’s Red Hot, and are becoming more familiar with ethnic chili condiments like Korean gochujang and Southeast Asian sambal.
Another reason for the hot sauce market’s enormous growth is the rising popularity of hot wings. “Sriracha, Tabasco, and Frank’s Red Hot, in particular, have really benefitted from that,” Matt Hudak, a US food industry expert for Euromonitor told Quartz. Americans now eat some 25 billion chicken wings per year. We’re proud of our country.
America is hot sauce crazed, which is why you’ll increasingly see snacks like chili pepper chocolate and Sriracha popcorn, that incorporate America’s new love—sweat-inducing heat.
[via Quartz]
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