What’s behind our sudden love of hot sauce?

Sales of hot sauce have exploded over the past year. But why now?

By Imran Rahman-Jones

Visit your local supermarket’s condiment aisle and you will find a huge range of hot sauces. While a decade ago, there would have been few options, now, there’s every flavour combination you can imagine, with varieties from countries across the globe. The industry has exploded, with retailers seeing a huge growth in recent sales.

One London retailer saw its hot sauce sales almost double in 2023, with a 150% bump at Christmas - compared with a 15% rise the year before. And another supermarket chain says its sales grew by 55% last year.

On top of that in 2023, retail analysts Mintel said “53% of consumers are willing to pay more for products with new and innovative flavours,” and hot sauce producers are responding to this by creating more flavoured chilli sauces.

There has been a rise in ‘swicy’ - sweet and spicy - flavours, such as hot honey. But hot on the heels of this, one spice wholesaler proposed an evolution to ‘swalcy’ – a combination of sweet, salty and spicy.

The rise of 'swalcy' sauce

Jordan Moore, senior food development manager at a recipe box service, suggests ‘swalcy’ could be the next big flavour profile because Asian flavours are so big right now. He has seen Chinese, Thai and Indian dishes become more popular in the last few years. And Korean food sees the ‘swalcy’ profile take centre stage.

“Gochujang is a really good example of this,” he says. Gochujang is a Korean fermented chilli paste, which “captures all three elements of sweet, spicy and salty really well which makes it so moreish.”

He adds that this makes it a “great addition to different recipes, such as adding a dollop to your spag bol to give it extra flavour.”

Artisan hot sauce producer John Maillard has seen a similar boom in Asian flavours. His Thai-inspired sriracha now outstrips his next best seller by five times. “I can't grow enough chillis to keep producing that product in the amounts that it's selling,” he says.

Why now?

All the retailers we spoke to say the popularity of YouTube show, Hot Ones has had an impact on their sales. The show pits some of the world’s biggest celebrities against 10 chicken wings, each spicier than the last. The celebrities are interviewed while they’re trying to tolerate the burning sensation overtaking them.

But the show has been going for almost 10 years, so why has the popularity in hot sauce taken off in the past year or so?

Hot sauce producers say lockdown was when they really saw their popularity rise – a time when people started experimenting more in the kitchen, adding a different dimension to their life indoors.

Dan Bentlett stepped up production of his hot sauce company during the pandemic after online sales skyrocketed. He now produces thousands of bottles per week and stocks large retailers.

He decided to start selling his own, initially at local markets. That grew to a bigger online and wholesale business. Since then, he has opened a Mexican taco shop in Edinburgh. “After lockdown and specifically since we've had the cantina, it's kind of almost catapulted into another dimension,” he says.

Maillard thinks social media has had a big part to play in the popularity of hot sauce. “I'm often tagged in things where people are doing challenges or reviews on my product,” he says. “It definitely makes a difference at the till.”

As hot sauce uses few ingredients, simple versions can easily be made at home, too.

How to use hot sauce in your cooking

Hot sauce is a quick, easy way to add a lot of flavour to your food, says Bentlett. “You can just add whatever hot sauce you're using to your chicken or to your halloumi, or make a salad dressing,” he says.

Several of the businesses explained that hot honey is also proving popular. “That's really the zeitgeist,” says Jen Ferguson from a hot sauce company. “People are really coming round to the idea of chucking hot honey over pizzas and ice cream.”

Ferguson suggests using fruity hot sauce on “anything off the grill,” including barbecue chicken and burgers.

What’s next?

Experts agree that chilli oil is quickly growing in popularity. Ferguson adds it to her eggs every morning.

Maillard explains chilli oil goes well with roasted meats such as pork or duck. Or, to add to the flavour of a side dish on your roast. “One of my favourite things to do with chilli oil is I make air fryer roast potatoes.” After par-boiling potatoes, “pop them in a bowl with a couple of tablespoons of the chili oil, a bit of chopped rosemary, a few flakes of sea salt,” then air fry for up to 20 minutes.

“They are absolutely to die for,” he says. “Stick them on the table and just watch people devour them.”

Originally published May 2024