Mad about Markets: Decoding growth of sauces and ketchup industry

All of ketchup is sauce, but not all sauces are ketchup! Yes, that must be clarified as both are often used interchangeably in India.

Ketchup is used for only tomato sauce, whereas, all others are called sauces.

In India, the sauces, dressings and condiments market is as big as Rs 21,700 crore, as of 2021, and is likely to grow to almost Rs 30,000 crore by 2026. However, this data is highly skewed by the presence of salt, pepper, and other seasonings included in their calculation.

During the pre-pandemic period, the contribution of non-tomato sauces in the market was just 30 percent, which has grown faster to now command 40 percent of the market share.

During the pandemic years, newer brands like Dr Oetker’s Fun Foods, Veeba, Naagin and Wingreens among others, grew over 50-100 percent.

Not only did the new players grow during the pandemic but the quest for home-cooking also interested biggies like Unilever, Nestle, and Jubilant Food to expand their range of offerings in the sauces and condiments business or even venture into newer sauces and condiments categories.

CNBC-TV18 spoke to Viraj Bahl, Founder and Managing Director at Veeba, and Mikhel Rajani, Co-Founder at Naagin Sauce, to discuss the current trends, competition, and growth opportunities for the sauces market.