Sauces are the magic elixir for food. They can serve as the flavor foundation of a dish, differentiate any menu item with a simple dollop and provide easy customization.
Operators are clearly seeing the value of sauces as a relatively easy route to any of those goals. Sauce mentions on menus have increased 3.7 percent overall in a three-year span, but sauces listed specifically as a side or extra grew a whopping 16 percent over that time period, according to Technomic’s MenuMonitor data, reflecting the use of sauces as a way of customizing a dish. Letting guests decide what or how much sauce to use could also be a way of lowering the sodium and fat content that will have to be disclosed for a standard menu item under menu-labeling rules.
Here’s the outlook for sauces, based on Technomic’s data.