Germany’s 8 million households with children are a key demographic for the cooking sauces market. When considering the factors likely to influence cooking sauce buying decisions, German households with and without children aren’t widely differentiated, but those variances raise interesting points. According to Mintel research, German consumers with children are more experimental with new flavours and ethnic recipes. As a result, brands can build on their much more adventurous attitudes towards cooking.
Innovative cooking sauce recipes should have as much, if not more, traction with the core consumer base of families with children rather than households without, and marketing resource should prioritise this demographic. Brands might look to take on more positive family-friendly positioning and promote eating meals together as a family. Given this group’s greater willingness to try new recipes and the desire for new flavours, brands could aim to bring families together with shared taste adventures, especially in terms of less mainstream ethnic and international recipe lines.
An onus on milder ethnic recipes may be needed in order to cater to the different taste preferences of family members, and brands could look to promote alternative means of upping the heat at the table – with spicy condiments, adding fresh chilli as a garnish etc. – in order to cater to those who prefer spicier food. In line with Mintel Trend Make It Mine, these and other custom elements may need to be brought into cooking sauces in order to satisfy family members, with customizable meal kit initiatives already widely appreciated by German families.
Katya Witham is Senior Food and Drink Analyst at Mintel with a dedicated field of focus on Germany. Katya draws on her comprehensive knowledge of the market to identify and explore the major trends across various FMCG categories, providing the insights needed to successfully navigate the German market.
